Atlanta And Its Builders, Vol. 2 - A Comprehensive History Of The Gate City Of The South. Thomas H. Martin
turned its attention to technical education. The Technological School was established by the State of Georgia upon inducements offered by the city of Atlanta, which bore half of the cost of the original plant, and contributes largely to the support of the institution. There is ample opportunity here for technical instruction of other kinds, and Atlanta has three medical colleges, whose attendance averages 600, to say nothing of the students of the dental colleges. Technical instruction in business methods is not neglected, and two large and flourishing business colleges have maintained themselves here for many years.
With the system of public instruction in elementary and higher branches and in the technique of various pursuits, Atlanta has facilities for a broader and more liberal culture in the libraries and lecture courses open to the public.
The religious and social atmosphere of Atlanta is wholesome and invigorating. It is a city of churches and the home of church-going people, and the community is honeycombed with fraternal organizations.
The social intercourse of the people, as well as the facility for doing business, is greatly aided by an ideal system of rapid transit, not only from the residence and suburban sections to the city, but from one residence portion to another. The neighborly spirit is enhanced by the nearness thus artificially created.
With all these advantages, and many which appear more fully in subsequent chapters, Atlanta has a wholesome and inspiring public spirit which never fails to respond when the interests of the city are at stake. This is perhaps the most distinctive thing about Atlanta, much as there is to say of her various advantages and magnificent institutions. These, after all, are the creation of the people of Atlanta, and the result of that same spirit working out its marvels in physical form. This is the spirit which has made Atlanta a household word in every city, town and hamlet in the United States, and has carried her fame to almost every community in the old world.
With this admirable esprit de corps there is a broad and catholic spirit born of the cosmopolitan character of the people. The population is principally composed of the best elements of the Southern States, with an admixture of enterprising and progressive people from the North and West, all striving with generous rivalry for the upbuilding of the city. All creeds and cults and political faiths are represented, and for each there is not only toleration but welcome and sympathy, according to his individual deserts. The people of Atlanta are hospitable, broad, liberal, big-hearted, fair and free.
Enterprising newspapers have much to do with the growth of any community, and this is especially true of Atlanta. For twenty years the daily newspapers of Atlanta have led the van of the Southern press and have had much to do with the development of the surrounding country. There are two daily newspapers in Atlanta, The Constitution, which is the morning paper, and The Journal, which is the most important evening newspaper in the Southern States. Another afternoon paper, the News, will start on August 4th, edited by John Temple Graves. The Atlanta Constitution has an interesting history, and has been the means of bringing into prominence several men of national reputation. It was on this paper that Henry W. Grady did his great work. It is unnecessary to speak of his career, for it is known to the whole country. In his hands The Constitution was especially powerful as a developer of the resources of the Piedmont region, as well as a strong factor in politics. Grady's genius has left its impress on the literary circles of the city, and The Constitution under its present management is one of the leading morning papers of the country. Other writers of national reputation who have developed on this paper are Joel Chandler Harris, whose stories are read in every English-speaking country, and Frank L. Stanton, whose verse is probably more generally quoted and read than that of any poet now writing for the American newspaper press.
The Evening Journal fills a unique field, somewhat broader than that usually occupied by evening newspapers. It is an enterprising newspaper of large circulation, and has been a powerful factor in the politics not only of this State, but of the entire country. It had much to do with bringing about the nomination of Grover Cleveland for president in 1892, and its then principal owner, Mr. Hoke Smith, was selected by Mr. Cleveland as the man to represent Georgia in the cabinet.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia — "The Empire State of the South" — is situated nearly centrally in the great unsurpassed agricultural and mineral quadrilateral forming the Southeastern section of the Union — hounded by the Ohio and Potomac rivers on the north, the Atlantic ocean on the east, the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and the Mississippi river on the west — seven miles southeast of the Chattahoochee river (and 300 feet above it), on the southernmost crest of Chattahoochee Ridge, which divides the waters which flow and empty on the east, within the Georgia coast line, into the Atlantic ocean, and on the west into the Mexican Gulf.
Captain C. C. Boutelle, a distinguished officer of the United States Coast Survey, who, some years ago, was engaged in astronomical and geodetic observations, stated that the climate of the Atlanta plateau was not only healthy, but ranked among the most salubrious on the globe.
The superior natural drainage within (and far beyond) the city limits: the extraordinary topographical configuration of the surface in and for miles around the city; the almost constant and general brisk current of air, and the absence of fogs and humidity, together with absolute exemption from malarial exhalations, render Atlanta unsurpassed for healthfulness.
It has been satisfactorily demonstrated that epidemic? cannot be engendered or prevail here. Cholera and yellow fever brought here from other places failed to become epidemic — but ran their course, ending in death or recovery; and in no single case did the disease ever spread, nor was it ever communicated to any individual. When, in 1888, Jacksonville, Florida, was visited by yellow fever, and when, in 1893, Brunswick, Ga., and Pensacola, Fla., were even more seriously scourged by yellow fever, and coast and inland cities quarantined against them, Atlanta generously and fearlessly opened wide her gates, hearts, purse and homes to their stricken and fleeing citizens, and invited them hither — becoming a veritable "City of Refuge."
Considering the many superior advantages possessed by Atlanta (natural and artificial), her geographical position, unsurpassed natural drainage, supplemented by skillful sanitary engineering; her salubrious climate and healthfulness; her extended, widely ramifying external railway connection, and internal electric street car lines; her general business facilities and well-graded and well-paved streets; her many churches and well-equipped schools — public and private; her beautiful and attractive recreative resorts, and mineral springs within and near the city limits; it is not at all surprising that Atlanta should have outstripped her sister cities in extraordinarily rapid increase in population and wealth.
Within a radius of fifty miles of Atlanta there is a greater variety — and in some instances a greater abundance — of minerals than can be found so near any other city in this country, if not in the world — iron ore (of wide extremes as to quality and richness), manganese, gold, silver, copper, granite, marble, slate, lead, graphite, soapstone, limestone, flexible sandstone (the matrix of the diamond), mica, talc, kaolin, asbestos, corundum, etc., and other gems.
One hundred miles radius will include, in addition to the above, coal measures almost inexhaustible, and water-powers more than sufficient to manufacture all the cotton made in the United States.
Raw materials of every description — iron in the ore or pig, and other metals and minerals; cotton; long-leaf pine, hickory, oak, ash, maple, beech, black walnut, yellow poplar, dogwood, and other hard and soft woods; all vegetable and animal fiber, hides, pelts, steam coal, and all other raw material needed for the successful prosecution of every branch of manufactures and mechanical industries known to man, are either kept here heavily in stock, or can be had quickly from points on the many lines of railway centering here, within easy distance, at a low cost of material and freight, while within the city limits, and in close proximity all around, are extensive beds of the best clay suitable for terra cotta work, sewer pipe and brick making.
Published statements show that Atlanta has much more banking capital than any other city in Georgia; has a much larger surplus and undivided profits; exceeds any other in the amount of deposit; that her banks have very much more cash actually in their vaults, and that they have nearly three times as much due them by other banks as they owe other banks.
Atlanta