Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1897 — SOUTH IS BOOMING. [ARTICLE]

SOUTH IS BOOMING.

INCREASED ACTIVITY REPORTED IN MANY LINES. Very Encouraging Reports Come from Manufacturers and Dealers All Over the Band of Dixie-Another Irish Famine This Winter Is Feared. Prosperity of the South. The industrial situation in the South shows many encouraging features. anti the Chattanooga Tradesman's Southern correspondents among prominent manufacturers and dealers report a feeling of confidence and continued satisfaction as to the volume of trade. The iron and steel production is heavy and the mills have orders on hand to keep them busy —until the first of the year.—The lumber and textile industries are active, and coal operators report an increasing demand for their product. Among the most important new industries for the week the Tradesman reports the following: Electric light plants at Thomaston. Ga., and Salisbury, N. C.; the Southern Chemical Company, capital SIOO,CJO, at Winston, N. C.t a flouring mill at Cherryville. N. C.; an ice factory at Orlando, Fla., and another at Spartanburg, S. C., at a cost of $30,000; an extensive foundry and pipe works at Anniston, Ala.: the Rivanna Gold Mining Company, capital $5,000,000, at Richmond, Ya., and a $30,000 company to manufacture paper, rubber, celluloid, etc., at Norfolk, Ya.: the Union Irrigating Company, capital SIO,OOO, has been ( bartered at Pecos. City, Texas: the Elk Oil and Gas Company, capital $50,000, at Charleston, W. Ya., and the Pamlico Tobacco Company, capital $50,000, at Washington, N. C. Woodworking plants will be established at Huntsville. Ala.; Green Cove Springs. Fla.; Paducah, Ky., and Hamilton, N. C. Famine in Ireland. If the horrors of the winter of 1879-80 in Ireland are not to be repeated this, winter prompt action will have to be taken by the English Government. So serious is the outlook on account of the well-nigh complete failure of the potato crop in the western half of Ireland that strong efforts are being made to secure the immediate calling together of Parliament to obtain funds for the establishment of relief works in the stricken districts and passing such other legislation as may be deemed expedient. Public Land Opened. Fort Randall military reservation has been opened to intending homesteaders. The scene at Champaign, when the land office was opened for business, was a lively one. A long line stretched far out on the prairie. Many of the settlers who made entry for lands have been squatters for years. Their lands contain many improvements. Fort Randall reservation contains more than 100.000 acres. The reservation is partly in South Dakota, partly In Nebraska.