INDUSTRIAL EDITION.
The
Berk
Cob;
ntj
M
FIRST OF ALL-THE NEWS.
VOL. II. MORGANTON, N.'C. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23. 1900. NO. 7.
MORGANTON, N. C. In 1900.
LEADING ITS SISTER CITIES IN MANU
FACTURING PROGRESS.
A POPULATION OF 3000.
Boasting illimitable resources its future is
assured The coming manufacturing
centre of Western North Carolina.
ITS RELIOEOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES ARE UNEXCELLED ITS PEOPLE ARE
REFINED AND CULTURED. HER ENTERPRISING BUSINESS PEOPLE.
(fiT N presenting this special industrial edition of the News devoted the inter
im ests of Morganton and her enterprising- business people it is not our
purpose to write a voluminous story elaborated with bombastic language but to
briefly portray the great inducements offered homeseekers and capitalists with
a resume of its illimitable resources and inexhaustible fuel supply.
BURKE COUNTY.
When we say that Burke is one of the richest and most resourceful counties
of the fertile Old North 'State we do not exaggerate her claim. Almost surround
ing by mountains not a valley; for the country has a general altitude 1200 ft.,
its lands are enriched from the picturesque Blue Ridge which lies just beyond
its borders to the North and West while the South Mountain Range looms up
on the south side to majestic heighth of 2600 ft., above the sea level. One third
of the county, which has area of 582 square miles, is mountainous or rolling
plateaus, the remain ing portion consist of fertile highlands, verdent valleys,
and well timbered forests. The high lands are a heavy red soil while the valleys
are a sandy loam, both of which are of easy cultivation; adapted to the growth
of Wheat, Corn, Oats, Rye, Hay, Tobacco, Potatoes, Vegetables and all kinds
Fruits. Any crop when properly executed will yield an abundant harvest.
For pastorage and the raising of all kinds of cattle and stock the county offers
exceptional advantages. It is intersperse with living streams, which, however,
does not subject the lands along their courses to freshet or over flows. Harbor
ed within the borders of Burke are thousands of acres of land in a virgin state
and which, while suitable for agricultural development, are espe cially adapted
to the stock raising industry and the establishing of creameries, and it ison these
lands that the best breeds of cattle thrive and produce greater results than on
any section of the globe.
The county abounds in minerals and it may be said here that the mining in
terests of this section is now enjoying a new impetus. Shafts are being sunk
in various sections of the county with exceedingly rich results. While the
precious metal is to be found all over this section of the State, the lands in , the
Northeastern portion of the county are exceedingly rich in gold ore. Also
mining for iron, asbestus, corundum and pottery, clay is prosecuted under the
most favorable and. profitable conditions in various parts of the county. Ac.
cording to findings we have in Burke tetradymite, brookite, smoky quartz,
chromite, anatase, epidote, fibrolite, columbite, samarskite, xenotine, mona
zite, montanite, talc, tremalite, tellurium, asbestos, graphite, rutile, palladium,
galena, garnet, tilanite, platinum, manganese, itacolumite, chlorite, kaolinite,
fergusonite, rutherfordite, mynatite, limonite, monnacanite, cvanite, actionlite,
wolframite, fiuorite, alpite, radiated, pyrophylite, lead, titan ite, silver, cerar
gyrite, psilomelane, serpantine, treunerite, crysolite, tremolite, mascerite,
sagenite, electrum, lithomarge, pargorite. - With the Catawba Linville, Johns
Upper South Fork and the Lower South Fork Rivers and number of streams
and creeks the water power of Burke County is unexcelled and is sufficiently
advantageous to attract the attention of capitalists from every section.
MORQ ANTON.
Morganton has always been considered beautiful for situation. With the
main range of the Blue Ridge mountain'within 16 miles on the left and - South
range with even closer proximity make the surroundings picturesque indeed
with their blue peaks in summer and their white caps in winter, afford them
selves a feast for the eye. Sufficiently near the mountains to be fanned in
summer by the cooling, health conducive ozone which sweeps across them, yet
sheltered, as it were, from the rigors which in winter they entail, Morgan ton's -location
with reference to them, is indeed most happy. She secures all the '
advantages they have to confer and suffers none of the hardships they have to
give. Their proximity in one sense and removedness in another, give to this
place a rarely equable climate, to which withering heat and biting cold are
alike unknown.
The city in latitude is 35 drgrees 45 and longitude 81 degrees 44 and has a
mean annual rain fall of 54.53 inches.
MANUFACTURES.
Morganton has a number of manufacturing enterprises, prominent among
which are the Alpine Cotton Mills, warps and yarns; The Morganton Mfg A
Trading Co., sash, doors and blinds; Hogans Roller Mill, flour and meal, and
the Burke Tanning Co., sole leather and belting. These enterprises with a
number of smaller ones are trader the most successful operation employing a
number of well paid and intelligent operatives declaring splendid dividends
their payrolls combined are a source of greaf revenue, to the business interest
of the city. The resources for the establishing all kinds of manufacturing en
terprises are unexcelled by any location in the south, as the raw materials are
close at hand and the fuel supply inexhaustible. The business people of this
this city are ever ready and waiting to aid in the establishing of manufactur
ing hi3'iit!U?v f ?T7ry-c,oriptJon. The torr.;n vfaw.of velorn Jjerjr
sources exempts from taxation for five years all enterprises employing a capi
of $5000 and upward.
HEALTHFULLNESS.
remaps no town or even size can coasting a lower aeatn rate man Morganton.
The cite of Morganton, situated upon a chain of hillocks connecting the Blue
Ridge and South Mountains is sufficiently higher than the surrounding coun
try to furnish an unsurpassed natural drainage, while an observer can but be
favorable impressed with the cleanliness of her .well graded streets and the
sanitary condition of the town in general. Tourists who flee from the rigors
of winter and the oppressive heat of summer have been for years past attracted
by the climatic conditions and the picturesque environments of Morganton and
in 1900 we find It even more popular than ever before enj oying a celebrity as
a health resort indeed enviable to its contemporary sister cities.
COMMERCIAL.
The commercial world of Morganton is made of jobbers, and retail establish
ments of mammoth proportions compared with her size. Being the county seat
of Burke it naturally holds a commanding position over her sister cities as a
commercial centre. It has the backing of a vast and resourceful territory and
is the marketing centre for the entire of section country known as the Catawba
Valley. Her merchants are sagacious and enterprising and it may be said to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
ALPINE COTTON MILLS.
IN making" a resume of the
commercial and -manufacturing"
interests of Morganton
we make special mention of
the Alpine Cotton Mills as it
is a potent factor in the main
tenaince of the prosperity and
progress which this city now
enjoys. This mill was estab
lished four years ago and
has since been under the most
successiui operation run
ning day and night while its
products consisting of yarns
and warps compare favorably
with the leading factories of
the south and are ever in de
mand. The plant embraces
a modern structure, equipped
with the most improved ma
chinery for the manufacture
of yarns and warps. They
employ a large number of ex
perienced operatives who are
well paid and furnished com
fortable homes in close prox
imity with the premises. In
all it is one of the most suc
cessful cotton mills now in
the south. The officers of
this institution are Mess. V.
A. Ervin, of Durham, Presi
dent, B. N. Duke, of Durham,
Vice-president and T. P.
Moore, of this city, Secretary
Treasurer, all of whom
are prominent men in the tex
tile interest of the bouth.
Thoroug-hly conversant with
the manufacture of cotton in
detail.
BURKE COUNTY BANK.
An Individual Responsibility
of Over a Quarter million
JLF ITH over a quarter
million dollars of In
dividual Responsibility the
Burke County Bank furnishes
ample facilities for the bank
ing business of this city ana
surrounding- country. They
occupy a handsome building"
equipped withimproved vaults
and facilities for the success
ful prosecution of modern
banking. Its officers are Mess
Clement Geitner, president;
K. C. Menzies, vice-president
a. m. ingoia, casnier ana
G. M. Collett, teller. Its di
rectorate is composed of sub
stantial finaciers. Coupling
these facts with unexcelled
connections throughout the
country, this bank offers to
its patrons and friends every
facility for business consis
tent with safe and prudent
banking.
They solicit all legitimate
banking business.