The Atlanta Carwheel & Manufacturing Company has, on the Southern Railway belt line near the waterworks pumping-station, an extensive plant for the manufacture of steam-railroad and street-car wheels.
The site covers ten acres and the main building is 230 by 118 feet, with several annexes. The works employ 100 to 150 men, and this is one of the largest establishments of its kind in the country.
Business.
Atlanta"s Business Grows Four Times as Fast as the Population, and the Population Grows Twice as Fast as the Average of the United States. Posted Receipts on its Newspapers Exceed those of Baltimore, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Omaha, or New Orleans...
Atlanta is the business center of the Southeast. Almost all the great concerns of national extent make this city their Southern headquarters, and this has created the phenomenal demand for offices. As a result, Atlanta has more tall fire-proof steel-frame office-buildings than any other Southern City.
Atlanta"s business is indicated by the bank clearings, which were $145,000,000 for the year 1903. In 1894 they were $56,000,000. This shows more clearly than words the rapid growth of the city as a business center.
From the latest available data, the trade of Atlanta is estimated as follows:
Wholesale $40,000,000 Retail 20,000,000 Manufactures 27,000,000 Fuel 2,000,000 Horses and Mules 6,250,000 ---------- Total $95,250,000
Atlanta Manufactures in 1904.
In April 1904 the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce sent letters to most of the manufacturers of the city, asking for a statement of the capital invested, the number of wage earners, the total wages paid, the value of raw material used and the product; also the percentage of increase in each item since June, 1900, when the U. S. Census was taken. The returns show an average increase of 53 1-4 per cent. in capital, 52 1-3 per cent. in wage earners, 55 per cent. in wages paid, 56.7 per cent. in raw material used and 62 per cent. in the value of the product. Applying these percentages of increase to the Census figures of 1900, gives the following for April, 1904 in contrast with 1890 and 1900:
Wage Total Raw Value Capital. Earners. Wages. Material. Product.
1890. $9,508,962 7,957 $3,206,285 $5,914,571 $13,074,037 1900. 16,045,156 9,356 3,103,989 8,563,524 16,707,027 1904. 25,309,937 15,267 5,079,385 14,185,935 28,985,476
[Ill.u.s.tration: CANDLER BUILDING.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: GRADY HOSPITAL.]
Atlanta"s princ.i.p.al manufacturing establishments are in cotton, iron, machinery, lumber, sheet metal, terra cotta, brick, fertilizer, wagons, carriages, furniture, candy and crackers, cigars, coffins, chemicals, printing, lithographing, electrotyping, stamping, paper and paper bags, flour and meal, paints, varnish, cottonseed oil and cake, ice, harness, belts, hosiery, underwear, neckwear, woolen goods, gins, engines, sash, doors and blinds, mantels, iron beds, spring beds, trunks, desks, tables, pickles, condiments, baking powder, bread and cakes, clothing, overalls, millinery, suspenders, picture-frames and moulding.
In money value, cotton goods and fertilizers lead the list. There are three large cotton factories, and Atlanta is headquarters for the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, the largest producer of fertilizers in the South. It is also the headquarters of several large sawmill companies.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FOURTH NATIONAL BANK BUILDING.]
Atlanta Banks.
The clearings and deposits of the a.s.sociated banks of Atlanta are reported as follows by Mr. Darwin G. Jones, manager of the Atlanta Clearing House a.s.sociation:
CLEARINGS BY YEARS.
1894 $56,589,228.04 1895 65,318,254.71 1896 69,026,033.17 1897 72,005,161.52 1898 71,964,809.03 1899 83,058,397.11 1900 96,375,251.22 1901 111,755,849.98 1902 131,200,457.25 1903 144,992,037.59
These reports show that business has doubled in seven years.
Deposits December 1st Each Year.
The deposits of the Clearing House banks of Atlanta at the end of the week nearest December 1st of each year, are reported by Manager Jones as follows:
1893 $3,977,930.98 1894 4,779,640.99 1895 6,672,006.87 1896 5,957,634.51 1897 6,385,336.51 1898 6,756,991.36 1899 7,764,990.85 1900 9,011,902.85 1901 11,080,127.68 1902 12,935,639.60 1903 13,080,098.35
[Ill.u.s.tration: SWIFT FERTILIZER WORKS.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: JEWISH ORPHANAGE.]
Government Receipts in the Southeast.
One of the facts indicating the greatness of the territory, of which Atlanta is the center, is the Government receipts in the Southeast.
The receipts of the Federal Government through internal revenue, customs, duties and Presidential Post offices is stated as follows, in the latest official reports:
Alabama $ 1,039,341.83 Florida 3,139,624.55 Georgia 1,812,239.10 Tennessee 2,942,593.17 North Carolina 4,933,641.99 South Carolina 1,063,063.17 -------------- Total $14,930,503.81
Growth of Postal Business.
The growth of business is strikingly shown by the postal receipts for the year ending June 30th, 1890, 1894 and 1903:
1890 $159,262.61 1894 201,649.92 1903 477,047.45
Comparison with other cities, by various barometers of trade and industry, indicates that Atlanta does more business than any city of 100,000 population in the United States. As a newspaper center it is phenomenal.
The receipts from second-cla.s.s mail matter at Atlanta were $55,658.83 during the year ending June 30, 1903. This shows that on newspapers and periodicals Atlanta pays the Government more than Brooklyn, Baltimore, Buffalo, Washington, Omaha, New Orleans, Louisville, or Indianapolis.
The receipts of the Atlanta Post-office for the year ending June 30, 1903, were $477,047.45, an increase of fourteen and four-fifths per cent. over the receipts of the preceding year.
Insurance.
Atlanta is the third insurance center of the United States, and easily first in the South.
The receipts of premiums reported to agencies here are estimated at $8,000,000, about equally divided between fire and life insurance.
Atlanta is the headquarters of the Southeastern Tariff a.s.sociation. There are no burdensome insurance laws in this State and taxes are reasonable.
[Ill.u.s.tration: JEWISH TEMPLE.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIRST METHODIST CHURCH.]
Cotton.
Atlanta is the center of large cotton operations, and receives about 115,000 bales annually. There are several large warehouses and compresses.
The 12 lines of railroads give ample facilities for collecting the crop from adjoining territory and forwarding it overland to eastern mills or to the coast for export. Both of the Round Bale Companies are represented in this city.