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
[Illustration: SWIFT FERTILIZER WORKS.]
[Illustration: 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-class 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 Association. There
are no burdensome insurance laws in this State and taxes are reasonable.
[Illustration: JEWISH TEMPLE.]
[Illustration: 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.
Transportation.
Atlanta is the railroad center of the Southeast. Twelve radiating lines
furnish ample facilities for distribution of manufactures and merchandise
from this point. Five of these lines belong to the Southern Railway. Here
is a list of the lines:
Southern to Washington.
Southern to Knoxville.
Georgia Railroad to Augusta.
Southern to Birmingham.
Southern to Fort Valley.
Southern to Brunswick.
[2]Seaboard Air Line to Birmingham.
Seaboard Air Line to Portsmouth.
Western & Atlantic to Chattanooga.
Atlanta & West Point to Montgomery.
Central of Georgia Railway to Savannah.
Louisville & Nashville to Knoxville.
[Illustration: CARNEGIE LIBRARY.]
The connections of these make many more routes over which there are
through trains, as for example, to Columbus and Albany.
The Southern Railway, Central of Georgia Railway, and Atlanta and West
Point Railway have let the contract for a union passenger station at the
corner of Mitchell and Madison streets, and will spend about a million
dollars on the structure. Altogether they will spend two millions on the
station and terminal facilities connected with it.
Atlanta's hotel accommodations are superior to those of almost any other
city in the South. The Piedmont is a fire-proof building of the best
class, with steel frame. The Kimball, the Aragon, the Majestic, and the
Marion have long enjoyed an enviable reputation with the traveling public.
There are numerous smaller hotels and any number of boarding-houses.
Atlanta is the stop-over point for the Florida winter travel, both going
and coming, and is rapidly becoming a summer resort by reason of its
elevation, bracing atmosphere, and cool climate.
The Radius of Distribution.
Atlanta's advantages as a distributing point are shown by the central
location with reference to Southeastern towns. There are seventy-nine
towns of exceeding 4,000 population in Alabama, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The average distances of these towns by
States from Atlanta, Savannah and Nashville are as follows:
ATLANTA SAVANNAH NASHVILLE
Alabama 195 miles 419 miles 269 miles
North Carolina 400 miles 352 miles 629 miles
South Carolina 239 miles 193 miles 526 miles
Georgia 147 miles 233 miles 386 miles
Mississippi 423 miles 606 miles 440 miles
--------- --------- ---------
1,404 miles 1,803 miles 2,250 miles
Average distance
of towns in five
States 280.8 miles 360.6 miles 450 miles
[Illustration: COURT HOUSE--FROM THE SOUTH.]
Street Railways.
Atlanta has a fine system of street railways, with one hundred and
forty-two miles of track radiating from the heart of the city to the
residence portion and thence to the suburbs. In some directions they reach
out for eight miles, as in the case of College Park, Decatur and the
Chattahoochee River.
The service is excellent, and there are one hundred miles of tracks within
the city limits. The uniform fare is five cents, but there are transfers
from incoming lines to any part of the city. Almost any spot on a car
line, within the city limits, can be reached from any other point inside
the city for one fare.
There is ample service to all the parks and resorts, and an electric line
to Marietta is nearly completed.
Light and Power.
Atlanta is well supplied with gas at a low figure--$1.00 per thousand
cubic feet. It is so economical that gas stoves are very largely used for
cooking purposes and not a few for heating.
[Illustration: LAKE ABANA--GRANT PARK.]
[Illustration: NORTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.]
The Georgia Railway and Electric Company has two large plants for the
generation of electric current for light and power. The city is well
illuminated by arc lights and electricity is largely used by business
offices and residences.
The same company has a steam-heating plant, and pipes have been laid in
the principal streets for this service.
Great Power Plant.
The Atlanta Water and Electric Power Company has erected on a massive
masonry dam across the Chattahoochee River, at Bull Sluice shoals, fifteen
miles from Atlanta, and in a few months the plant will be completed and
equipped to deliver 11,000 horse-power of electric current in the city.
The total investment will be $2,000,000. The power plant will give a
tremendous stimulus to manufacturing.
As the steam and electric powers already in existence furnish 45,000
horse-power, which is in constant use, the addition of 11,000 horse-power
will increase the manufacturing industries of Atlanta by twenty-five per
cent. This is considered a very moderate estimate; for within the three
and three-fourths years following the census of June, 1900, the product of
Atlanta factories increased from $16,721,000 to $27,417,000, and the
number of wage earners from 9,368 to more than 14,000.
[Illustration: SOUTHERN FEMALE COLLEGE.]