The business of Atlanta is growing four times as fast as its population,
although the population grows twice as fast as that of the country. The
rate of increase in population for the United States has been two per
cent. per annum during the past decade. In Atlanta, it has been
approximately four per cent. During the year 1903, the business of Atlanta
increased fifteen per cent. as measured by postal receipts. Since the
Exposition of 1895, bank clearings have more than doubled and bank
deposits have nearly trebled.
Chamber of Commerce.
During the thirty years of their existence the Chamber of Commerce, and
its predecessor, the Board of Trade, have been active in protecting and
promoting the interests of Atlanta. Meetings in the public interest have
usually been called at the Chamber of Commerce, and it was there that the
first meeting to organize the Cotton States and International Exposition
was held. All important questions affecting business have been discussed
there and a score or so of standing committees have been constituted by
the Chamber to look after the interests of Atlanta. The Chamber of
Commerce is the open forum for the discussion of all matters which affect
the general welfare of the community, and in this way the organization has
exerted a powerful influence.
The present officers are:
Robert F. Maddox, President; Samuel D. Jones, Vice-President; Walter G.
Cooper, Secretary, and Joseph T. Orme, Treasurer.
Daily Newspapers.
Atlanta has three daily newspapers. The Constitution, a morning paper,
acquired national reputation under the management of Henry W. Grady, and
has continued under the management of Clark Howell to hold a leading
position among the newspapers of America.
The Atlanta Journal is a large afternoon paper which acquired national
reputation under the management of Hoke Smith, and has continued to grow
under the management of James R. Gray.
The third daily newspaper is the Atlanta News, a penny afternoon paper
organized during the summer of 1902. It appeared August 4th and rapidly
acquired a large circulation. A bright future is predicted. Editors, John
Temple Graves and Charles Daniel; Business Manager, Chas. Daniel.
[Illustration: WATER WORKS PUMPING STATION.]
[Illustration: TECHNOLOGICAL SCHOOL.]
Educational Facilities.
Atlanta has an imposing array of educational institutions, extending from
the public school system to the great polytechnic institute known as the
Georgia Institute of Technology. There is a variety of technical schools,
including law, medicine, dentistry, handicrafts, business colleges,
industrial schools and divinity schools.
There are sixteen white and six colored Grammar schools, a Girls' High
School, a Boys' High School, and a night school. The total expenditure for
these institutions during the year 1903 was $184,286.20. The cost per
pupil was $16.75, and the number of pupils 11,000.
There is the usual organization of Superintendent, Assistant
Superintendent, principal and teachers, under a Board of Education.
The teachers meet in normal class once a week, and many of them spend
their vacations at summer schools of the great universities. There is a
fine esprit de corps, and excellent work is done.
Atlanta's great educational institution is the Georgia Institute of
Technology, supported by the State of Georgia, with an additional annual
appropriation from the city. It has about 500 students, and the work is
the best of its kind in the South. There are machine shops in wood and in
the metals, a blacksmith shop, a textile school, and department of
electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. In addition there is
excellent work in mathematics, chemistry, and the other scientific
schools, with a good education in English.
Graduates of this institution have been distinguished for the thoroughness
and the practical value of their education, which has enabled them to go
from the shops and recitation-rooms directly into manufacturing and
engineering pursuits.
A number of them hold very high and responsible positions in the
management of great enterprises, and almost without exception, the
graduates hold good positions in productive industry.
There are 600 students attending the medical colleges of Atlanta.
The Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons is one of the best equipped
in the country, and its course is very thorough. It has a very large
attendance from all parts of the Southern States, and some from beyond
that territory.
The Eclectic College of Medicine and Surgery is also well attended.
The Dental College holds a position of eminence among institutions of that
kind.
The members of the Medical and Dental professions of the city rank high.
There are several excellent institutions for the education of girls,
notably the Agnes Scott Institute, the Southern Female College and the
Washington Seminary.
The Southern Military College is an excellent institution for boys, and
Hunter's School for boys has a fine reputation.
In the institutions of higher education there are about 5,000 students,
nearly equally divided between whites and blacks.
The people of Atlanta have raised $250,000 which has been tendered the
Synods of the Southern Presbyterian Church, to secure the location of a
$1,000,000 University in the city or its immediate suburbs. Commissioners
from the Synods of the Southern States met in Atlanta in December, 1903,
and voted to accept the tender.
Of the amount subscribed, $150,000 comes from Presbyterians and $100,000
from the public, including all classes and almost all religious
denominations. Of the $100,000 contributed by the public, about $25,000
came from working men and salaried employees of business houses. In some
cases even domestic servants contributed. In all there are about 3,000
subscribers for amounts ranging from 10 cents to $25,000. At a great mass
meeting held in the Grand Opera House, Monday evening, March 30th, $50,000
was raised.
The Carnegie Library.
The Carnegie Library of Atlanta was organized May 6th, 1899, and received
all of the property and books of the Young Men's Library, which had been a
subscription library, and had 15,000 books and property worth $40,000,
when the city received a gift of $100,000 from Mr. Andrew Carnegie for a
building. Mr. Carnegie subsequently added $25,000 to the original gift for
the building, and $20,000 for stock and furniture. Total cost of the
Library equipped was $145,000. The lot, which was a gift of the Young
Men's Library Association, cost $35,000. For the year 1904 the City of
Atlanta has appropriated $10,100 for the maintenance of the Library.
There are in the Library 26,105 volumes classified and catalogued after
the most approved methods. There are 13,420 registered borrowers, and the
circulation for 1903 was 111,558 volumes for home use, about 400 volumes
daily being issued.
The State Library has a large collection of law books, and a rare
collection of colonial history of this and other Southern States.
Institutions for Negro Education.
Atlanta has some of the largest institutions for negro education in the
country. They are: Atlanta University, Clark University, Gammon
Theological Seminary, the Atlanta Baptist College, Morris Brown College,
and Spelman Seminary.
The Spelman Seminary has a fine training school for nurses, and industrial
training for women.
Clark University has industrial training for men.
Theatres.
Atlanta has two fine theatres--the Grand and the Bijou.
The Atlanta Lecture Association is one of the best in the United States,
and regularly brings the best talent of the country to the Atlanta
platform. Its membership is about 1,000. The Baptist Tabernacle has a
lyceum course.
[Illustration: AGNES SCOTT INSTITUTE.]
Residential Advantages.
It is hard to enumerate the advantages of life in Atlanta. They are so
many that it is impossible to catalogue them all in brief space. The
climate is the best enjoyed by any city in the country, the spirit of the
people makes anyone welcome who is worthy of a welcome anywhere, and the
opportunities for business, education, culture, enjoyment and social
pleasure unsurpassed. The institutions for the preservation of order,
sanitation and public comfort are excellent. The fraternities are
numerously represented, and fraternity life is a feature of the city's
many attractions.
[Illustration: W. P. INMAN'S RESIDENCE.]
Visitors from a distance are always charmed with the residence streets of
Atlanta. The homes are made attractive by grassy lawns, which beautify the
scene and avoid the heat of those cities where solid blocks of flats rise
directly from the sidewalk.
There are many beautiful suburbs which are easily and quickly reached by
the car lines, and these are constantly extending. Atlanta has a fine
market, supplied at all times with fish, game and vegetables, and an
abundance of fresh meats. The shops and stores are up-to-date, and
conducted in metropolitan style.
The Climate.
Atlanta is on the crest of the ridge dividing the watershed of the
Atlantic Ocean from that of the Gulf of Mexico, and its elevation of 1,052
feet gives a bracing atmosphere. The mean annual temperature, based on all
available records, is 60.8 degrees. The highest annual mean was 64.0 in
1871, preceded by the lowest, 56.9, in 1868. The mean temperature of the
winter months is 44.1, of the spring months, 60.5, of the summer, 77.0,
and of the autumn, 61.5. The highest monthly mean was 82.2, in July, 1875,
the lowest, 34.4, in February, 1895. The warmest winter month was
December, 1889, with a mean of 57.2; the coolest summer month was June,
1866, mean, 68.9. The highest temperature on record is 100, which
occurred on July 19, 1887, and is the only instance of its kind. The
lowest temperature on record is -8.5, on February 13, 1899. The
temperature has registered at zero, or below, but on three other dates in
the last twenty-six years, viz.:-- -1, January 6, 1884; -2, January 11,
1886, and zero February 8, 1895.
Summer nights are cool and the low percentage of humidity makes the days
comfortable. The average date of first killing frost is November 4th, and
of the last in spring, March 29th, leaving an average growing season of
219 days.
Monthly Mean Temperature.
The average monthly temperature for each month, as shown by the record of
many years, is given below:
January 42.6 July 78.6
February 45.7 August 76.9
March 51.7 September 71.7
April 60.9 October 61.5
May 69.0 November 51.4
June 75.6 December 44.1