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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf. .C±QA 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
(hattanooqa' 
 
( 
 
 
A FEW FACTS 
 
 WORTH KNOWING ABOUT A CITY 
 
 THAT IS GROWING FASTER 
 
 THAN ANY OTHER IN 
 
 THIS COUNTRY. 
 
Compiled by 
 CARPENTER, SHERWOOD, QUIMBY & TOWER CO. 
 Chattanooga, Tenn. 
 
 Copyright 1890, by 
 Carpenter, Sherwood, Quimby & Tower Co. 
 
 Press of 
 N. Y. Engraving and Printing Co., 
 New York. 
 
ABRAM S. HEWITT'S PROPHECY. 
 
 Hoi^. Abram S. Hewitt, ex-Mayor of New' 
 York City, said : — 
 
 " It is customary with a great many cities to 
 have a map made especially for advertising pur- 
 poses, in which their jDlace is represented as being 
 in the centre of the universe, or at least in the 
 centre of the desirable j^arts of it. I l<inow of no 
 city which would be so nearly iustified in issuino- 
 such a map as Chattanooga would be, situated as 
 it is at the strategic jooints where the commercial, 
 industrial and agricultural interests of the South 
 are centred. 
 
 " I know but little of the South except what I 
 have read in books and in speeches, but from 
 what I have seen I cannot conceive of any com- 
 bination of natural advantages which could by 
 any possibility form a better basis for magnifi- 
 cent growth and prosperity. Situated as it is on 
 a splendid river, which here forms a natural 
 
gateway between tlie regions of the Central 
 South and of the Gulf States, opening up to you, 
 
 are the various treas- 
 ures with which the 
 South is so richly and 
 generously endowed 
 by the beneficent 
 hand of nature. 
 Add to these resour- 
 ces the immense 
 graineries to the west 
 of you, and no words 
 can foretell the pos- 
 sibilities of the future. The growth of New 
 York from a town of 21,000 people one hun- 
 dred years ago to a city of a million and a 
 half has been remarkable, Imt I predict, after 
 careful study and deliberation of the conditions 
 surrounding it, that there are places now in 
 the South which, one hundred years hence, 
 will surpass the growth of New York in the 
 century that is past, and Chattanooga is more 
 likely to be the point than any city I know of." 
 
ANDREW CARNEGIE'S PROPHECY. 
 
 " Who could have prophesied, gentlemen, that 
 In a few years from the time the New South 
 started in earnest as an Iron and Steel manu- 
 facturer, that the market of Boston should be 
 controlled by iron shipped from the Southern 
 States ; but such is the case to-day ; and, gentle- 
 men, if the South has her turn and repays the 
 North for its invasion of the South, let us con- 
 gratulate ourselves and our Southern friends 
 that the iron with which they invade us is in an 
 infinitely more agreeable shape than that Avith 
 which we invaded their territory. I delight to 
 dwell upon the progress of the New South in 
 industrial inirsuits. It is marvelous. Listen a 
 moment. In 1880 there were but 220 National 
 Banks in all the South; there are to-day 472, 
 with 76 millions of dollars of capital. Since 1880 
 nearly 21,000 miles of railroad have been added. 
 In 1880 the South made only 390,000 tons of pig 
 iron; last year she gave us 1,132,000 tons, and 
 this year her product will be more than 1,600,000 
 
6 
 
 tons, one-fiftli of the entire i^roduct of tlie United 
 States. Only six millions and forty-eiglit thou- 
 sand tons of coal 
 were mined by her 
 in 1880. Last year 
 her output of these 
 black diamonds ex- 
 ceeded 18,0( )(),()(){) of 
 tons. In cotton man- 
 ufacture the record is 
 no less startling. 
 From 667,000 spin- 
 dles in 1880 we have 
 2,030,000 eight years later. The new manu- 
 facturing and industrial South advances like a 
 giant with his seve league boots on." 
 
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW 
 
 AT THE 
 
 Yale Alumni Dinner at Delmonico's, Nevv 
 York City, Friday, April 18tii, 1890. 
 
 The net result of my visit to the South to my 
 mind is just this : that the South is the bonanza 
 of the future. We have developed all the great 
 and sudden opportunities for wealth, or most of 
 them, in our Northwestern States and on the 
 Pacific Slope. But here is a vast country, with 
 the best climate in the world, with conditions of 
 health which are absolutely unpai'alelled ; with 
 vast forests untouched ; with enormous veins of 
 coal and iron, which yet have not known an}'- 
 thing beyond their original conditions ; with soil 
 that, under proper cultivation, for little capital 
 can supxDort a tremendous jDopulation ; with con- 
 ditions in the atmosphere for comfortable living 
 summer and winter which exist nowhere else in 
 the country ; and that is to be the attraction for 
 
8 
 
 the young men who go out from the farms to 
 seek settlement, and not by immigration from 
 
 abroad — for I do 
 thinlv they will go 
 that way — but by the 
 internal immigration 
 from our own coun- 
 try it is to become in 
 time as prosj^erous as 
 any other section of 
 the country, and as 
 prosperous by a 
 purely American development." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 About forty years ago the bleak prairies of 
 Kansas and Nebraska began to be populated, and 
 the hardy pioneers, in their efforts to wrest a 
 livelihood from nnwilling mother earth, suffered 
 great hardships. The climate was severe, the 
 insects destroyed their crops, the winds blew 
 down the rude houses ; with little or no shelter 
 or fuel, hardship and peril were the lot of the 
 early settlers. On the mai[)s of that time a large 
 extent of this territory was marked as a desert, 
 upon which no j^lant could grow or breathing 
 thing could live. In the midst of this barren 
 waste is now the beautiful and i^rosperous city of 
 Lincoln; while the labor of these pioneers has 
 made such cities as Omaha, Denver and Kansas 
 City necessary. The growth of these cities has 
 been rai^id, and has extended through forty 
 years, fonning a pleasing picture of American 
 fortitude and enterprise. 
 
10 
 
 There is another scene which is not so thrilling, 
 because no heroism was here to be disj^layed, no 
 hardships to be encountered ; naught but the 
 social and business customs of a chivalric, poetic, 
 dreaming people to be overcome. Upon the 
 South Nature had poured with lavish hand the 
 choicest of her blessings. Here beautiful mount- 
 ain streams bounded over the rocks, and in merry 
 gladness sang on their way to the more placid 
 rivers, which flowed through fertile valleys to the 
 sea. It was the land of sunshine and of flowers. 
 No bleak wdnds forced the pioneer to exertion 
 through sense of self -protection ; no biting frosts 
 blighted the harvests ; no ravenous insects 
 wrested the food from hungry human kind. 
 High above the valleys towered the mountains — 
 not the barren rocks of the Western ranges, but 
 forest-covered summits where the poplar, the 
 walnut, the oak and the pine proudly lifted their 
 heads to greet the rising sun. Here Dame 
 Nature kept her store-house of precious metals^ 
 and gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, coal, marble, 
 and whatever else man might need awaited the. 
 miner's j)ick. 
 
 Here for years a dreamy, poetic people lived in 
 
11 
 
 easy comfort, unniiiidi'iil of the wealth that was 
 theirs. The war came ; social conditions were 
 changed, and men awakened to the advantages 
 which Nature had given them. Still, the census 
 of 1880 showed that the time was not yet ripe for 
 the South to take on itself a new order of life, 
 and several of the Southern States had actually 
 decreased in jwiDulation during the decade. A 
 far different tale does the census of 1890 tell. 
 The growth of the South during the past ten 
 years has been i3henomenal. We of the South 
 know that this has been accomplished wdthin the 
 last five vears, but are content to base the beo-in- 
 ning at the year 1880. " Old things have passed 
 away, and all things have become new." The 
 prairie States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois have 
 increased but little during the past ten years, for 
 southward "the star of empire takes its way," 
 as it did westward forty years ago. 
 
 The pivotal city of the South is Chattanooga, 
 which stands surrounded hy the richest coal and 
 mineral deposits in tlie loorld. It is situated 
 where it must control a territory larger and 
 richer than that tributary to any city of the 
 West. From a geographic, economic, social, 
 
12 
 
 sanitary, commercial, liistorical, industrial or 
 agricultural point of view, it is pre-eminently 
 the leading city of the j)resent South, and i^roj)- 
 erly represents the brightest hopes of the future. 
 
 The p)ractical mind turns to figures as the 
 rejDresentatives of facts ; and in presenting the 
 condition of Denver, Kansas City and Omaha, 
 the magic cities of the West, and their growth 
 from 1880 to 1890, after the section which made 
 them what they are had been rapidly develoj)ing 
 for thirty years, it is certainly a conservative 
 proposition that Chattanooga, whose contributing 
 section of country has virtually had but five 
 years' growth, will in the next ten years show as 
 great an increase as the cities of the West have 
 done during the past ten years. 
 
 Chattanooga in 1890 has as large and as rapidly 
 increasing commercial territory ; it has an agri- 
 cultural territory which, while not as large in 
 extent, is as fertile as theirs. It has mineral 
 deposits beyond all comparison with any in the 
 West. It has more industrial establishments 
 employing more capital than Omaha has to-day, 
 and double that of any of the three cities above 
 named in 1880. It is, therefore, safe to say that, 
 
13 
 
 with so greatly superior basis of growth, Chatta- 
 nooga in 1900 will be as large as either of them is 
 now, in 1890. 
 
 In this connection it may be stated that the 
 fortunes made in real estate in those cities can 
 be made in Chattanooga now. Values of real 
 estate depend upon the density of population. 
 
 Chattanooga has an area of 4f square miles, 
 and has 29,000 people. Omaha has an area of 
 over 35 square miles, and in 1880 had 30,000 
 peoi^le. Denver has over 33 square miles, and in 
 1880 had 35,000 people. The entire territory 
 available for the growth of Chattanooga from the 
 Georgia State line to the river, and from Cameron 
 Hill to Missionary Ridge, is only 19 square miles. 
 Hence, ten years from now, it is very safe to pre- 
 dict, every available foot of ground will be occu- 
 pied, and in ten more years Chattanooga will be a 
 very densely-built city. There is not room in the 
 basin which it occupies for it to be otherwise. 
 It has not nearly as much available territory to 
 grow in as Omaha or Denver now covers ; and 
 there is every j^ossible indication, amounting 
 to an absolute certainty, according to all rules as 
 to the basis of growth, that in 1900 Chattanooga 
 will be larger than those cities are now. 
 
14 
 
 In the accompanying tables are given all the 
 facts bearing npon this, and they show conclu- 
 sively that every foot of ground within the terri- 
 tory named will be within the city in ten years ; 
 and in ten years more real estate values will 
 again double, because, having occupied all the 
 available territory, the density of population 
 will force this result. 
 
OM 
 
 AH/^ 
 
 POFULATIOH 
 
 I890 
 
 1880 
 1890 
 
 30.518 
 134.742 
 
 35 SQ.R. MILES. 
 
 CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 30. 
 
 POPULATION 
 
 2g 
 
 100 
 
 4 'A SQ'R. miles. 
 
OMAHA -CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 In the comparison between Omaha and Chatt- 
 anooga the figures of 1880 for the former city can 
 be only partially used, as they are not all attain- 
 able. The growth of a city depends on its com- 
 mercial and industrial enterprises, and on its 
 available capital. In the number of manufact- 
 uring enterprises Chattanooga is now ahead of 
 Omaha, and need not go back to 1880 for a basis 
 of comparison. 
 
 Omaha, 1880. Chattanooga, 1890. 
 
 Population* 30,518 29,100 
 
 School Attendance 3,716 4,526 
 
 Number of Railroads 3 9 
 
 Buildings Erectedf $1,000,000. . . $1,765,000 
 
 Tot. Bus. (estimated) . .$45,000,000. . .$60,000,000 
 
 Bank Deposits $3,373,000. . . $4,465,000 
 
 Assessments $7,512,683. . .$21,952,506 
 
 Manufactures, Number 154. . . 231 
 
 Capital. . .$1,835,800. . .$14,980,000 
 ' ' Employees . . . . 1 , 688 . . . 9,869 
 
 " Wages $726,918. . . $4,200,000 
 
 The following lists for 1890 are prepared from 
 the reports of the Chambers of Commerce for the 
 two cities. 
 
 * Population of Omaha, 1890, 145,000. 
 
 ■j Buildings erected in Omaha 1890, $1,000,000. We do not go 
 back to 1S80, but take last year for comparison of Omaha and 
 Chattanooga. 
 
J6 
 OMAHA. 
 
 Number 
 Class. of Firms 
 
 Barb Wire 1 . 
 
 Brick 15 . 
 
 Carriages 3 . 
 
 Cornice 3 . 
 
 Crackers 2 . 
 
 Distillers 2 . 
 
 Extracts 
 
 Founders and Machinists 
 
 Linseed Oil 
 
 Mattresses 
 
 Overalls 
 
 Shot and Lead Pipe 1 . 
 
 Soda Water 3 . 
 
 Syrup Reiiners 1 . 
 
 Smelting AV orlvs 1 . 
 
 Vinegar Works 2 . 
 
 Canning and Preserving. 1 . 
 
 Baskets 2. 
 
 Brooms 4 . 
 
 Soaps 3. 
 
 Cigars 21 . 
 
 Breweries 4 . 
 
 Candies 4 . 
 
 Flour Mills 3. 
 
 Bag Factory 1 . 
 
 Total Manufactories ... 90 . 
 
 Number of Capital 
 Employees. Invested. 
 
 ..... $150,000 
 
 220,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 210,000 
 
 860,000 
 
 14,000 
 
 140,000 
 
 420,500 
 
 10,000 
 
 27,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 36,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 ..... 70, ()()() 
 
 10,000 
 
 70,000 
 
 89,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 140,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 . ..$5,312,500 
 
17 
 CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 Number 
 Class. of Firms. 
 
 Saw Mills 7.. 
 
 Pianino- Mills 9.. 
 
 Fnrnaces 2. . 
 
 Iron and Steel Works. . . 8. . 
 
 Foundries 12. . 
 
 Wagons 8. . 
 
 Ice 5. . 
 
 Furniture 5 . . 
 
 Brick 9 . . 
 
 Leather 4. . 
 
 Milling 4 . . 
 
 Mattresses & Spring Beds 5 . . 
 
 Novelty AVorks 10.. 
 
 Boilers 8 . . 
 
 Agricultural and AA^ood, 
 
 MisceFs 7. . 
 
 Stoves and Sheet Iron . . 4. . 
 
 Sewer Pipe 2 . . 
 
 Patent Medicines 8 . . 
 
 Soap 1 . . 
 
 Cigars 8 . . 
 
 Brewery 2 . . 
 
 Saw AVorks 2 . . 
 
 Printing 15. . 
 
 Alining and Quarrying. .18. . 
 
 Railroad Shops 
 
 Blacksmiths and AA'heel- 
 
 wrights 82 . . 
 
 Miscellaneous 52 . . 
 
 (Including Gas, Water and Electric Li 
 
 Stone AVorks 8 
 
 (Including Steam Marble Works.) 
 
 Total Alanufactories . . .281 
 
 The excess of capital is due to the large establishments whose 
 business is not confined to Chattanooga, while the number of 
 employees is given for Chattanooga alone. 
 
 Capital Number of 
 
 Invested. Em 
 
 ployees. 
 
 St>825.00() . 
 
 . 805 
 
 075, OOO . 
 
 . 050 
 
 825,000 . 
 
 . 250 
 
 . 0,275,000 . 
 
 .1,550 
 
 502,000 . 
 
 . 474 
 
 85,000 . 
 
 . 70 
 
 420,000 . 
 
 . 185 
 
 400,000 . 
 
 . 875 
 
 175,000 . 
 
 . 290 
 
 . 1,091,000 . 
 
 . 400 
 
 508,000 . 
 
 . 80 
 
 80,000 . 
 
 . 85 
 
 150,000 . 
 
 . 175 
 
 53,000 . 
 
 . 75 
 
 050,000 . 
 
 . 500 
 
 110,000 . 
 
 . 225 
 
 280,000 . 
 
 . 275 
 
 110,000 . 
 
 50 
 
 45,000 . 
 
 . 25 
 
 15,000 . 
 
 25 
 
 150,000 . 
 
 35 
 
 25,000 . 
 
 15 
 
 200,000 . 
 
 . 250 
 
 005,000 . 
 
 . 000 
 
 
 . 800 
 
 180,000 . 
 
 . 100 
 
 . 1,250,000 . 
 
 .1,800 
 
 ights.) 
 
 
 125,000 . 
 
 . 250 
 
 .$14,980,000 . 
 
 .9,809 
 
18 
 
 BANKING CAPITAL. 
 
 Omaha, 1890. 
 
 The combined capital of all the banks, includ- 
 ing the National, is estimated at four million 
 dollars ; and, including surplus and undivided 
 profits, at over five millions, not counting 
 deposits. 
 
 The detailed reports are not fully available. 
 
19 
 
 BANKING CAPITAL. 
 
 Chattanooga, 1890. 
 
 First National $650,000 
 
 Third National 354,000 
 
 Fourth National 222,000 
 
 Chattanooga National 356,000 
 
 City Savings 232,000 
 
 Citizens' Bank and Trust Company . . . 210,000 
 
 Chattanooga Savings 65,000 
 
 Bank and Trust Company 55,500 
 
 Soutliern Bank and Trust Company. . . 50,000 
 
 F. R. Pemberton & Company 100,000 
 
 People's Bank 200,000 
 
 Penny Savings 50,000 
 
 South Chattanooga Savings 50,000 
 
 Bank of Chattanooga 100,000 
 
 Continental 200,000 
 
 $2,884,500 
 
20 
 
 The increase in the deposits for the six months 
 from January 1st was $1,365,000, or nearly fifty 
 per cent. The following figures of increase are 
 from the books of the Chattanooga Savings Bank, 
 and will hold good with the other banks : January 
 1st (Increased) $15,802 ; February 1st, $27,715 ; 
 March 1st, $34,547 ; April 1st, 38,361 ; May 1st, 
 $47,736 ; June 1st, $82,066 ; July 1st, $64,275 ; 
 August 1st, $68,895; Sept. 1st, $91,441. These 
 figures are the increase only, and show the pros- 
 perous condition of business and the growth of 
 the city better than anything else could. These 
 figures are of Savings dejiosits alone, no business 
 deposits being received by this bank, which is 
 j)urely a savings institution. 
 
 Real Estate transfers, (1885) $4,426,148. 
 
 " " " (1889) $5,515,425 
 
 Local Transn. Lines, (1890) 97^ Miles 
 
 The value of property in Omaha in 1880 was 
 about the same as in Chattanooga in 1890 ; that 
 is, from five to fifty dollars a front foot for resid- 
 ence property, and from one hundred to one thou- 
 sand dollars per front foot for lousiness property. 
 
21 
 
 In Omaha tliis price lias increased from lifty to 
 five hundred per cent, depending upon locality ; 
 and it will do the same witliin the next ten years 
 in Chattanooga. Pork and beef packing form 
 the principal industry of Omaha. But this cannot 
 compare with the iron and steel interests of Chat- 
 tanooga. The growth of Omaha has largely been 
 the result of its jobbing trade, which now reaches 
 the sum of one hundred million dollars annually. 
 But ten years ago it was not heavier than the 
 jobbing trade of Chattanooga is now. 
 
22 
 
 DENVER— CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 Chattanooga does not suffer by a comparison 
 with Denver, notwithstanding the rajoidity with 
 which the latter city lias grown — increasing its 
 population from 35,629 in 1880 to 125,000 in 1890. 
 
 Denver, iSSo. Chattanooga, iSgo. 
 
 Mf trs., Number .... 259 231 
 
 Capital $2,201,852 $14,980,000 
 
 Employees. . 2,984 9,869 
 
 Wages $1,514,488 $4,200,000 
 
 Assessments $16,194,090 $21,952,506 
 
 Business Firms 875 975 
 
 Bank Capital $51,646,457 $2,884,500 
 
 Buildings erected... $1,100,000 1,765,000 
 
 Business $65,000,000 60,000,000 
 
 In 1890 Denver employed 9,353 hands in manu- 
 factures, with a capital of $6,282,589. 
 
 As to commercial territory, the comparison 
 between these two cities is all in favor of Chatta- 
 nooga, controlling as it does, the rich cotton and 
 mineral districts of Northern Georgia and Ala- 
 bama, the magnificent territory of East Ten- 
 nessee, the grazing and agricultural regions of 
 
r 
 
DENVER 
 
 POPU 
 
 390 
 
 I88C 
 I89CI 
 
 35. 
 106. 
 
 29 
 f>70. 
 
 33 SQR MILES. 
 
 CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 18 30 
 
 POPULATION 
 2S.I00 
 
 4- 'A SQ'R. MILES. 
 
 Chatt^amooqa- 
 
 TENN. 
 
 a\ap showing taat portiom availablc 
 tor city builoihcr without - ; . 
 
 OOINO INTO THE STATt Or GiDRCIA. 
 ' - - OR ACROSS THE : ^ 
 TtNNESStt RIVER. 
 
 (\.tiS THAN 10 SQ.,-.ILCS.; 
 
>JJiM H^c to 
 
23 
 
 the Sequatchie Valley, and tlie Cumberland 
 Plateau — altogether a territory with a popuhition 
 of not less than a million and a half of people, 
 embracing nearly one-half of the State of Ten- 
 nessee, besides large i)ortions of Mississippi, 
 Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and 
 Kentucky. If Denver could grow from 35,000 to 
 125,000 peoj^le in ten years, and then have no 
 more manufacturing and no more banking caj^ital 
 than Chattanooga, then this city, with a better 
 agricultural country and commercial territory to 
 support it, ought to have more tlian 125,000 
 people within the next ten years. 
 
24 
 
 KANSAS CITY— CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 Kansas City is tlie wonder of the West. In 
 1880 it was so mncli larger than Chattanooga is 
 now that it is hard to institute a comjDarison ; 
 but all the figures attainable show conclusively 
 that Chattanooga has a better opportunity for 
 growth than Kansas City had in 1880. 
 
 Kansas City, iSSo. Chattanooga. i8go, 
 
 Population 55,785 29, 100 
 
 Assessments $10,577,260 $21,952,506 
 
 Mf rs., Number 224 231 
 
 Capital $2,147,305 $14,980,000 
 
 Employees . . 2,548 9,869 
 
 Wages $1,430,713 $4,200,000 
 
 Total business $85,000,000 $60,000,000 
 
\ 
 
w^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 KAI 
 
 ^sa; 
 
 i CI 
 
 TY 
 
 
 
 
 
 POPU 
 
 -ATI ON 
 
 1880- 1 
 1890-1; 
 
 )2.977 
 \2.I01 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CHATTANOOGA, 
 
 6 30. 
 
 29.100 
 
 4 %. SQR- MILES. 
 
 32 ^ SQ MILES. 
 
 
 Chattamooqa- 
 
 Tenn. 
 
25 
 
 OLENWOOD. 
 
 If, as has been said, the elegance of the homes 
 determines the refinement of the people, then 
 Chattanooga is one of the most refined cities in 
 the United States. Upon every side are costly 
 residences built in the highest style of the arch- 
 itectural art. The most attractive residence por- 
 tion of the city is Glen wood. Situated at the 
 foot of Missionary Ridge on beautiful rolling 
 ground, nature has done everything to make the 
 spot attractive. It was a park, and the services 
 of an accomplished landscape artist were secured 
 in laying it off. An ideal place for a home, high 
 free from dust, easy of access, yet away from the 
 noise and bustle of the business streets, in full 
 view of the grand x^anorama presented by Look- 
 out Mountain, Raccoon Mountain, the Palisades, 
 Cameron Hill, Waldens Ridge, the winding 
 Tennessee, and the entire city of Chattanooga it- 
 self, it is indeed a charming place. It is no 
 wonder that i^alatial residence are already pro- 
 posed in this beautiful park, now for the first 
 time placed upon the market. 
 
A SUMMARY. 
 
 It does not require a tongue gifted with the 
 spirit of prophecy to foretell the future of Chat- 
 tanooga. It is yet upon the threshold of develop- 
 ment, but its growth has challenged the 
 wonder and admiration of the entire country. 
 Its present condition and past success have been 
 briefly presented, and this alone would justify a 
 brilliant prediction for the future, but there are 
 other and weighty reasons for expecting the 
 growth to be even more rapid in the years to 
 come than in those gone by. 
 
 The city of Omaha claims an actual valuation 
 of $150,000,000 in property, while Kansas city 
 claims $250,000,000. These cities were built by 
 Eastern capital, a steady stream of wealth flow- 
 ing from the East to these magic cities of the 
 West until having grown more rapidly than the 
 countr^/ which supports them, they have now be- 
 come settled and values fixed, affording little or 
 no opportunity for rapid money making. The 
 
27 
 
 attention of Eiistern ca jjitalists has therefore been 
 diverted from the West, and they are now look- 
 ing to the South for opportunities for investment. 
 Until two years ago there was none of this capital 
 in the Chattanooga District, but within the past 
 two years it has commenced to come, as instanced 
 by the Chattanooga Land, Coal, Iron and Rail- 
 way Co., with $6,000,000, of Eastern capital, 
 East Chattanooga with $2,500,000, Kensington 
 with §1,000,000, Fort Payne with $2,500,000, 
 Harriman with $1,500,000, Cardiff, Jasper and 
 other places $500,000, or about $13,000,000 with- 
 in two years. The results of this enormous 
 amount of money have not even begun to be real- 
 ized for the reason that tlie properties are not yet 
 developed, and it will take another year before 
 the beneficial effects are very noticeable. The 
 figures given are those of the capitalization of 
 the Companies, and the actual cash will probably 
 be about seven millions of dollars. It can al- 
 most be asserted that the whole of the cities of 
 Denver, Omaha and Kansas City are due to 
 Eastern capital, but if one-fourth is attributed 
 to that source we have $112,500,000, three-fourths 
 of which has gone there within the past ten years. 
 
28 
 
 It is reasonable to believe tliat with this capital 
 diverted to the South an equal amount will be 
 invested here. There is accumulated in the 
 United States at present over $270,000 every 
 hour night and day, except Sunday, and this 
 enormous sum of money is seeking investment 
 all the time. A large part of it has gone West 
 in the past. It has to find some other locality, 
 and with the inducements offered in the South a 
 large proportion of it will come here. 
 
 The growth of Chattanooga, and the fact that 
 it has only commenced to grow can be seen by a 
 tew significant figures. Two years ago there 
 were three flouring mills with a total capacity of 
 300 barrels a day. There are now three mills with 
 a capacity of 900 barrels and another mill build- 
 ing with a capacity of 600 barrels. In wholesale 
 trade, the grocery and liquor lines were the only 
 ones having exclusive wholesale houses three 
 years ago. There are now eight lines of trade 
 with exclusively wholesale houses, and the job- 
 bing business has been more than trebled. In 
 banking, three years ago there were three banks 
 with a total capital of $1,000,000. There are 
 now fifteen with three times that much capital. 
 
29 
 
 In mannfactiiring, steel-making in the South 
 was not dreamed of a few years ago. Now the 
 Southern Iron Co. is manufacturing steel at 
 Chattanooga by the basic process, with $0,000,- 
 000 capital. The effect of this wonderful change 
 can be seen by consulting the Railway statistics, 
 which show that a few years ago there was not 
 a single north and south railroad that was pay- 
 ing satisfactory dividends. Now more miles of 
 railroad are being built north and south than 
 east and west, and the lines in operation are pay- 
 ing better. Traffic has changed from west to 
 east to south to north, and this is more notice- 
 able every year. 
 
 An exceedingly favorable fact is that the 
 growth is not confined to the city alone, but is 
 general throughout the territory which it con- 
 trols. 
 
 In manufacturing enterprises and bankins: 
 cai^ital Chattanooga is far ahead of the three 
 cities of the AYest in 1880, and holds its own with 
 them even now. It is growing more rapidly than 
 they did then, and it is safe to predict even a 
 greater growth in the future. 
 
 The jobbing trad© is a sure indication of the 
 
30 
 
 territory controlled by a city, and therefore a 
 valuable index to its future. It is at present the 
 weak point of Chattanooga, and yet it is taking 
 great strides that will soon make it the strong 
 point of the city's growth and prosperity, as it is 
 now of Kansas City, Omaha and Denver. 
 
 Ten years ago there was but one exclusively 
 wholesale house in Chattanooga ; five years ago 
 there were but three employing a capital of 
 $200,000. To-day there are twenty-two employ- 
 ing a capital of $1,500,000. In addition to these 
 are about forty concerns which do a considerable 
 jobbing trade in connection with a retail business. 
 In these commercial lines alone are considered, 
 and not manufacturing institutions. There are- 
 six wholesale grocery houses, three liquor houses, 
 three grocers specialties, two produce, two dry 
 goods, two leather, two hats, two boots and shoes, 
 one drugs and a large wholesale hardware busi- 
 ness is done, but the concerns also have retail 
 departments, and are not counted. The same is 
 true of clothing and saddlery goods, and furni- 
 ture, and one of the dry goods houses is just 
 starting. Within the past twelve months there 
 has been $335,000 additional capital put into the 
 
31 
 
 jobbing business of Chattanooga, according to the 
 reports of R, G. Dim & Co. Every jobbing house 
 in the city, of whatever line, reports that they 
 are doing all tlie business that they can handle 
 with their x>i"t^sent capital, and could easily 
 double their business if their capital was in- 
 creased. There is now !^1,50(),00() invested in the 
 jobbing trade, and an annual business is reported 
 of S6, 000, 000. There is an increase -of about forty 
 per cent, in 1890 over the corresponding months 
 of 1889, which shows an increase of twenty-live 
 per cent, over 1888. This showing for a city 
 which was not considered a jobbing point until 
 two or tb^ee years ago is a revelation, and indi- 
 cates that in the future the commercial interests 
 of the city will comjDare favorably with those of 
 Kansas City, Denver and Omaha. The territory 
 of Chattanooga is practically boundless. Stoves, 
 furniture and plows from here are sold through- 
 out the United States, and even in Mexico, while 
 in the staple lines it has an extensive territory 
 from which to draw its trade. 
 
 There is another important matter which will 
 cause the city to grow. It has the best school 
 system that is possible to obtain, it is so healthy 
 
that physicians send their patients here as a 
 health resort, the beauty of its scenery and the 
 soft and genial climate attracts thousands of 
 visitors who seek health and x)leasure. It is 
 therefore a most desirable place to live. The 
 class of people who have come is the very best, 
 there being none of the rough element that usu- 
 ally seeks a new country. Wages average the 
 same as in the North, while the cost of living is 
 less. Work is plentyful, and the condition of 
 labor is shown by the fact that strikes are almost 
 unknown, the statistics showing that while the 
 number of persons employed in the South is a 
 little more than one to three as compared with 
 the rest of the country, the number of strikes is 
 but one to twenty-nine. This fact must attract 
 labor and capital alike. No other section com- 
 bine such advantages of profit, pleasure, comfort 
 and health, and its growth under every possible 
 advantage will surely equal that of the cities of 
 Omaha, Denver and Kansas City under the dis- 
 advantages to which they have always been and 
 always will be subjected. 
 
 Within the next twelve months there will be 
 three new railroads entering Chattanooga. The 
 
33 
 
 oil fields of the Cumberland Plateau which have 
 been successfully operated for twenty years will 
 be fully developed, several new wells sunk, and 
 the field connected by pipe line with Chattanooga. 
 The copper mines of Polk County will be opened 
 up on a large scale, and copper wire mills estab- 
 lished at Chattanooga, new marble quarries and 
 fire brick works four miles from the city will be 
 started, and what is more important than all the 
 Tennessee River will be opened uj) by means of 
 the Muscle Shoals canal, and pig iron will be ship- 
 ped by water to Pittsburg and coal to St. Louis. 
 All of these new elements of growth will be add- 
 ed within the next year, and insure a much more 
 rapid increase in wealth and population than has 
 ever been known before. 
 
SOUTHERN STEEL MAKING. 
 
 The plant of the Southern Iron Company (Capi- 
 tal $6,000,000) for making steel at Chattanooga 
 is now nearly completed. The cost will be less 
 than in the North, but owing to tlie fact that 
 only experimental runs have been made the fig- 
 ures as to cost cannot be given. 
 
 Mr. A. M. Shook, General Manager of the 
 Company, and one of the recognized leaders in 
 the iron business of the South, makes the follow- 
 ing statement for publication : 
 
 "There are four practical methods known 
 whereby to make steel. These are : the Bessemer 
 process, the basic Bessemer, the Acid Oi^en Hearth 
 and the basic open hearth. Our Southern mater- 
 ials are not adapted to the Bessemer or the Acid 
 Open Hearth because our ores have too much 
 phosphorous to make acid steel. With the Basic 
 Open Hearth the percentage of phosphorous is 
 
35 
 
 not material. You must have low sulphur and 
 low silica. 
 
 The result of my investigation in Wales and 
 England satisfies me that we can, by the proper 
 mixtures make pig iron in the South that will 
 make open hearth steel that is adapted for all 
 commercial purposes, and for structural work 
 generally. It will be w^ell adapted to rails, but 
 will be of a better quality than is required for 
 rails, and it will pirobably go into the finer pro- 
 ducts. 
 
 We ^^■ill construct two open hearth furnaces at 
 Chattanooga, making in the aggregate seventy 
 or eighty tons of steel a day. These will be in 
 connection with the steel rail mill there which 
 the Company owns. We have ores that are 
 practically Bessemer, which we expect to convert 
 into Bessemer Steel to make steel rails, and if so, 
 to use both the Bessemer and Basic processes. 
 The success of the experiment is assured."* 
 
 Capt. H. S. Chamberlain, President of the 
 Roane Iron Co. and Citico Furnace Co. says : 
 
 "Mr. Shook and myself went abroad to investi- 
 gate the operations of the Basic process of steel 
 
 (Note) Since the above was written the Southern Iron Co. 
 be^an operations Tuesday, Sept. i6 1S90 and are now working 
 xiight and day. 
 
36 
 
 making, as used in the steel mills with a view to 
 employing the same in the Southern Iron Go's. 
 steel mill here. We were received by the iron 
 masters of the old country most cordially and 
 treated most courteously. We were given every 
 facility for thoroughly investigating the process. 
 We visited all the leading mills of England and a. 
 number in Germany, and were gratified to see 
 the absolute success attending the use of the 
 Basic process. We visited the great works of 
 Sir John Brown, and went through the mines of 
 the famous Cleveland iron stone district, and 
 everywhere we went we were offered amx)le opp- 
 ortunity to investigate the processes employed. 
 
 ' ' After making a thorough investigation we 
 were satisfied that our Southern iron could be 
 just as easily and successfully employed in steel 
 making as that of the old country by the basic 
 process. 
 
 "The Basic process is the old Siemens-Martin 
 open hearth furnace, the same as used in the acid 
 process, but the furnace is lined with basic mat- 
 erial, and all the additions are basic. In this 
 process the phosphorous, the objectionable ingre- 
 dient in our Southern iron is oxydized and goes. 
 
37 
 
 off in the slag, thus leaving the iron pure and 
 ready for carbonizing into steel ; and iron even 
 high in phosphorous can be used to nearly as 
 good advantage as the best Bessemer irons of the 
 North, and at much less original cost. The pro- 
 duct is of the finest nature, and much better ad- 
 apted to the liner grades of steel than is the 
 Bessemer. 
 
 " For use in these open hearth Basic furnaces 
 any amount of phosphorous, if low in silicon, can 
 be used. Of course the less amount contained of 
 each of these ingredients the better. In these 
 respects the Southern Iron Company's charcoal 
 product more than meets the requirements, as 
 the iron has less than one-half of one per cent, 
 phosphorous, and less than one per cent, of sili- 
 con. With suitable care in manipulation the 
 irons from any of the coke furnaces in the South 
 can be used to advantage, and will, most likely, 
 ' be so used as the demand for the steel product 
 increases. 
 
 "The metal made by this open hearth Basic 
 process is superior to any other for wire rods, 
 tin plate and ship plate and most steel shapes, 
 to the Bessemer, 
 
38 
 
 "I was interested by the fact that the pig iron 
 used by these furnaces in England is white, the 
 grey brands carrying too much silicon. I believe 
 that Southern ores in general are perfectly 
 adapted to making this product, the only draw- 
 back to the iron now made at our coke furnaces 
 being the silicon, which I am confident can be 
 eliminated in the blast furnace at no additional 
 cost of j)roduction. 
 
 " We have all of the basic in and around Chat- 
 tanooga in the greatest abundance, and that part 
 of the 23rocess will be reduced to the minimum 
 cost ; Chattanooga is most fortunately situated 
 in this respect ; as will be demonstrated when 
 the mill begins active operation. 
 
 •'The mill will make steel rods, steel plates, 
 and small steel shapes, and it is possible that we 
 will make nails, and if the duty is advanced on 
 tin plate we will make that for the reason that 
 Basic steel is admirably adapted to making tin 
 plate. 
 
 "Chattanooga will of course be the centre of 
 operations as here is the most important plant of 
 the Company's property : in other words Chat- 
 tanooga will be the virtual name of the Southern 
 
39 
 
 Iron Co., for here the output of its furnacesand 
 mines will be utilized, and all its business will be 
 transacted from Chattanooga. All its manufact- 
 ured products will be known as Chattanooga 
 manufactures, and the most important improve- 
 ments and additions to their property will be 
 here. Other furnaces will be built at various 
 points on the Comjxany's proj^erty, and this, of 
 course, will necessitate the enlargement of the 
 main plant here ; so that Chattanooga must be 
 the beneficiary of all the operations of the 
 Company." 
 
L. K. QUIMBY, Prest. GEO. R. SHERWOOD, Secy 
 
 E. P. CARPENTER, P. Prest. L. H. TOWER, Treasurer. 
 
 CARPENTER, SHERWOOD, QIJIBY & TOWER CO., 
 
 Make Investments and handle business 
 for Non-Residents. 
 
 Buy and Sell Lands, Lots, Etc. 
 
 ON JOINT ACCOUNT AND COMMISSION, 
 
 Build Mouses and Sell them on terms that 
 
 enables almost any one to be their 
 
 o^!vn house o^vner. 
 
 The most beautiful spot in or around 
 Chattanooga is 
 
 aivKNWOOD 
 
 and the best place to build a good home. 
 Remember, nothing but first class build- 
 ings will be built, hence values are sure to 
 advance right along. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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