History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 12

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724

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INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY, THE ALABAMA, UNIVERSITY.

Organization .- Organized at the Univer- sity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, December 11, 1890.

Objects .- The promotion of scientific ex- amination and the discussion of various ques- tions of interest to the material progress of the State.

First Officers .- Cornelius Cadle, president; Thomas Seddon, W. E. Robertson, C. P. Wil- liamson, M. C. Wilson, J. W. Burke, Horace Harding, vice presidents; William B. Phillips, secretary; Henry McCalley, treasurer.

Officers, 1896 .- President, William B. Phillips, Birmingham; vice-presidents, T. H. Aldrich, Birmingham, L. C. Harrison, War- rior, F. M. Jackson, Brookwood, George B. McCormack, Pratt City, Ernest Prochaska, Birmingham; Secretary, Eugene A. Smith, University; Treasurer, Henry McCalley, Uni- versity.

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INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY,

THE ALABAMA, A voluntary scientific so- ciety organized to bring together the civil and mining engineers, mine and furnace own- ers and managers, chemists, metallurgists, geologists, and all others interested in the material progress of the State, for the promo- tion of scientific examination and discussion

of practical every day affairs. The move- ment originated with William B. Phillips, professor of chemistry and metallurgy in the University of Alabama, who enlisted the aid of Dr. Eugene A. Smith of the same institu- tion. They, as members of a University com- mittee on which were Pres. R. C. Jones, R. A. Hardaway and J. H. Foster, together with twenty-seven interested persons, addressed a circular letter to six hundred parties in this and other States. Twenty-nine gentlemen interested in the movement met in the chemi- cal lecture room of the University on De- cemher 11, 1890 and perfected a temporary organization.

Pres. Jones of the University was tempo- rary chairman and W. C. Ruffin temporary secretary. The committee on organizations and nominations, viz: W. H. Hassingen, J. S. Walker, L. C. Harrison, G. S. Patterson, Ernest Prochaska and Henry McCalley, se- lected the following officers who were elected: President, Cornelius Cadle, vice-presidents, Thomas Seddon, W. E. Robertson, C. P. Wil- liamson, M. C. Wilson, J. W. Burke, Horace Harding; Secretary, Wm. B. Phillips; Treas- urer, Henry McCalley. Meetings of the so- ciety were held during the spring and autumn, with some postponements, until Nov. 16, 1899. Since that date the organization has not been active.

Presidents .-

1890-91. Cornelius Cadle.

1891-92. Cornelius Cadle ..

1892-3. C. A. Meissner.

1893-4. Erskine Ramsey.

1894-95. Wm. B. Phillips.

1895-96. Thomas Seddon.

1896-97. F. M. Jackson.

1897-98. T. H. Aldrich.

1898-99. M. C. Wilson.

1899-00. J. H. Fitts.

Secretaries .-

1890-91. Wm. B. Phillips.

1891-92. Wm. B. Phillips.

1892-93. Eugene A. Smith.

1893-94. Eugene A. Smith.

1894-95. Eugene A. Smith. 1895-96. Eugene A. Smith.

1896-97. Eugene A. Smith.

1897-98. Eugene A. Smith.

1898-99. Eugene A. Smith.

1899-00. Eugene A. Smith.

PUBLICATIONS .- Proceedings 1891-1899, vols. 1-9.

REFERENCES .- Proceedings vols. 1-9, 1891-1899; Owen's Bibliography of Alabama, 1897.

INDUSTRIAL CORPORATIONS. With the passing of the years, with the stabilizing of industrial enterprises, and with the apprecia-

tion of the advantages of centralization of ad- ministration, the various original or pioneer mining, manufacturing, milling and other de- velopment companies have largely either been absorhed or merged into larger corporations, or their corporate life has been lost through dissolution or through the bankruptcy courts. The record of the development of the indus- trial life of the State has been admirably presented by Miss Ethel Armes in "The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama," issued in 1910, after extensive and painstaking original re- search. It is an Industrial Epic, thrilling in the telling, and an inspiration to the patriotic and aspiring Alabamian. The story is not without pathos, however, witnessing as it does the passing of well-planned dreams and ardent hopes. It may be stated that there is hardly one of the older companies still in existence.

The present industrial activities are repre- sented and directed by a number of newly- organized corporations, representing the merger of the earlier schemes, all based on sound business experience and having abund- ant capital for operation. It may be pre- dicted with some assurance of certainty that they will remain indefinitely as stahle enter- prises, all in their respective fields harmon- iously working toward a greater common- wealth.

For individual sketches refer to particular titles, with very brief sketches and references to the history of the older companies. The list which follows contains all that are so represented :

See Alabama Co., The; Alabama Fuel and Iron Co .; Alabama Marble Co .; Alabama & New Orleans Transportation Co .; Alger- Sullivan Lumber Co .; American Agricultural Chemical Co .; American East Iron Pipe Co .; Central Iron & Coal Co .; Continental Gin Co .; Cullman Coal & Coke Co .; Daniel Pratt Gin Co .; DeBardeleben Coal Co., Inc .; Gulf States Steel Co .; International Agricultural Corporation; Northern Alabama Coal, Iron & Railway Co .; Pratt Consolidated Coal Co .; Republic Iron & Steel Co .; Sheffield Coal & Iron Co .; Shelby Iron Co .; Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co .; Southern Cotton Oil Co .; Southern Wheel Co .; Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co .; United States Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co .; Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co .; Woodward Iron Co., Inc.

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES, BUREAU OF. A State bureau created hy article 12 of the constitution, 1868, under the management of a commissioner elected by the people for a term of four years. The bureau was intended to be a convenient clearing house for data, statistics and all other information regarding every phase of the State's resources, devel- oped and undeveloped, whether lands, timber, minerals, agriculture, industrial or commer- cial opportunities, labor conditions and wages.

In obedience to the constitution, the legis- lature, August 12, 1868, passed an act which prescribed the details of the bureau's opera- tions, fixed the commissioner's salary at $2,500 a year, and authorized the employment

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of a clerk, whose salary should not exceed $1,000. Among the special activities pro- vided by law for the bureau, were the estab- lishment of a system of monthly weather and crop reports from the various counties to be published for general circulation; the holding of public meetings in different localities for consultation with and the instruction of the people concerning the best methods of devel- oping the resources of the State, diversifying its industries, encouraging immigration, and increasing its general prosperity; the organ- ization of local societies to aid in bringing about these objects, and to encourage the holding of fairs, disseminate agricultural in- formation and knowledge of improved farm- ing; to establish and maintain a museum, open to the public a portion of each week day, con- taining geological, mineralogical, botanical, and entomological specimens from different parts of the State.

Very soon after entering upon his duties, the first commissioner, John C. Keffer, issued a brief pamphlet of 22 pages in which he very happily described the advantages of the State. This was widely circulated. The reports of the commissioners indicated a sympathetic ap- preciation of the great riches and possibilities of the State, and they appear to have made a very sincere effort to arouse interest in all forms of development. However, they com- plained of limited funds, of a lack of coopera- tion, and of various hindrances to progress.

Unfortunately the work had political asso- ciations and connections which continually brought embarrassment and finally destruc- tion. The office was the creation of forces dominating the State at the adoption of the radical constitution of 1868, and it was never looked upon with favor. It was, therefore, abolished by the constitutional convention of 1875, by the failure to provide for its con- tinuance. Just how far it developed a meteor- ological service, or a museum, or local agri- cultural or industrial societies, or many other of its activities is not known. No relics or other museum objects are known to survive.

Commissioners .- John C. Keffer, 1868- 1871; James L. Tait, 1871-1872; Thomas Lambert, 1872-1875.

PUBLICATIONS. - Reports. 1869, 1870. 1873, 1874, 4 vols .; Alabama (1869, 8vo. pp. 22), con- taining "a few remarks upon her resources, and the advantages she possesses as induce- ments to immigration."

REFERENCES .- Constitution. 1868, art. 12; Code, 1876, p. 117; Acts, 1868, pp. 55-58.

INDUSTRIAL AND PUBLIC UTILITIES. See sketches of: The Alabama Company; Alabama Fuel and Iron Company; Alabama Marble Company; Alabama Power Company; Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company; American Agriculture Chemical Company; Birmingham, Ensley and Bessemer Railroad; Central Iron and Coal Company; DeBardelaben Coal Com- pany, Inc .; International Agricultural Cor- poration; Mobile Light and Railroad Com- pany; Montgomery Light and Water Power Company; Pratt Consolidated Coal Company; Selma Lighting Company; Selma Street and

Suburban Railway Company; The Southern Cotton Oil Company; United States Cast Iron Pipe Foundry Company; and Woodward Iron Company.

INDUSTRIES. The term used to designate the factory system of manufacturing as dis- tinguished from individual or custom work. Little was done in Alabama before the War in the way of industrial development except in the case of cotton factories and an occa- sional iron furnace; and these enterprises cannot properly be classified as industries in the strict, modern sense of the term, for the labor of slaves was almost altogether used, and thus questions of the relation between capital and labor, one of the principal ele- ments of industrialism, were avoided. One notable exception to this general rule among ante bellum manufacturing enterprises was the Daniel Pratt Gin Co. (q. v.), which man- ufactured large numbers of cotton gins, using free labor. During the War, foundries, am- munition factories, and plants for the man- ufacture of other military supplies were es- tablished in various parts of the State, but most of them were destroyed or dismantled either during the latter part of the War or during the Reconstruction period.

Beginning with the early seventies, numer- ous enterprises looking to the development of the State's mineral resources were in- augurated. The mining of coal and iron, as well as some other minerals of less commercial importance, and the manufacture of various mineral products grew within a few years to considerable proportions. The construction of railroads, several of them traversing the mineral district, was coincident with the de- velopment of the mining and manufacturing interests; and with the completion of the South & North Alabama Railroad, in the fall of 1872, the industrial era, or the era of incorporated manufacturing companies em- ploying large numbers of wage earners, may be said to have been fairly begun in the State. See Cotton Manufacturing; Industrials; Manufacturing and Manufactures; Public Utilities; and titles of different industrial cor- porations in their appropriate alphabetical places.

REFERENCE .- Manuscript data in the Ala- bama Department of Archives and History.

INFERIOR COURTS. See City Courts.

INSANE HOSPITALS, THE STATE. A state "institution for the care and treatment of insane persons," originally founded by the legislature of Alabama in 1851, and reor- ganized under act of December 11, 1900. As originally projected, the care and treatment of both white and negro insane was under- taken at Tuscaloosa, the location of the prin- cipal building.

However, on March 1, 1895, Congress do- nated the Mt. Vernon Barracks military res- ervation, situated in the upper part of Mobile county, "together with all the buildings and improvements thereon," "to be held in use for public purposes." In accepting this dona-

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tion, the legislature on December 11, 1900, set aside the reservation in question for the exclusive care of the negro insane. The orig- inal hospital by the same act was set aside as the "Bryce Hospital."

Both the "Bryce Hospital" and the Mt. Vernon Hospital are controlled by a board of seven trustees, under the name of the head of this title. The board has possession and control of all of the real or personal property belonging to either hospital and they may later be acquired in any manner, to maintain, sue and have perpetual succession, to have a corporate seal which may be changed, and power to sell and convey any real property of the hospitals. The management and control of the hospitals and "any of other allied in- stitutions, such as places for the care and treatment of the inebriates, epileptics, harm- less dements, feeble-minded, and the like, which may be at time to time confined to them by law." The trustees serving for terms of seven years each, the term of one trustee expiring on the 30th of September every year. The amendatory act of September 25, 1915, names the seven trustees, with the expiration of their several terms. The trustees elect their own successors. Three trustees reside near the Bryce and two reside convenient to the Mt. Vernon hospital. An annual meeting is to be held each year. The governor is ex officio a member of the board.

"For the immediate management and gov- ernment of the hospitals," the trustees select a superintendent, fixed term of office and sal- ary. The superintendent is a graduate prac- titioner of medicine and qualified in the spe- cialty of caring for and treating the insane. An assistant superintendent, assistant phy- sician, interne, supervisor, nurses, and at- tendants, are authorized. For the outside work in the shops, yards, gardens and fields, a manager and laborers are provided. A treasurer and a steward are also provided.

The hospitals are maintained and used solely for the care, treatment and custody of such patients as have been committed to them as insane by a proper court. No other classes of patients are admitted. Under the law a person is adjudged insane, "who had been found by a proper court, sufficiently deficient or defective mentally, to require that, for his own or others' welfare, he (or she) be re- moved to the insane hospital for the restraint, care and treatment. Whether the persons' abnormality is sufficiently grave to necessi- tate such a procedure is always a question to be decided by the court."

Superintendents .- Dr. Peter Bryce, 1860- 1901; Dr. James T. Searcy, 1901-1919; Dr. W. D. Partlow, 1919.

INSPECTION OF MERCHANDISE. The State constitution forbids the inspection of merchandise, manufacture, or commodity by State officers, in the following terms: "No state office shall be continued or created for the inspection or measuring of any merchan- dise, manufacture, or commodity, but any county or municipality may appoint such officers when authorized by law." However,

regulation of the manufacture and sale of various articles of merchandise are provided for by statute, as follows: commercial fertil- izers by the department of agriculture and industries (q. v.), under code of 1907, sec- tions 14-52 and subsequent amendments; il- luminating oils, by the State chemist (q. v.), under code of 1907, sections 1572-1580; and foods, drugs and feeds, by a bureau of the de- partment of agriculture and industries, under an act of March 9, 1911.

Inspection of Fertilizers .- The first of these inspection laws was enacted March 8, 1871, and was entitled, "An Act to protect the planters of this State from imposition in the sale of fertilizers." It created the office of inspector of fertilizers for the State, appointed by the governor for terms of two years, and having authority to appoint subinspectors for such counties as the governor thought proper. The inspector and the subinspectors were re -. quired to be agricultural chemists. Salaries were not authorized, but a fee of 75 cents for each ton of fertilizer inspected, payable by the person procuring the inspection, was provided by law. A penalty, not to exceed $1,000, was prescribed for failure to procure State inspection of fertilizer before selling or offering it for sale. The administration of this law was believed to have worked a hard- ship on the people of the State. Too many inspectors were appointed, and the com- petency and fidelity of some of them came under grave suspicion. Therefore, the law soon became obnoxious to the people, and was repealed on December 14, 1874.

In 1875 a new constitution was adopted. When the convention met to frame it, the abuses of the fertilizer inspection law were still fresh in the memories of the delegates. A section, in the precise language of the sec- tion of the present constitution, quoted in the opening paragraph of this sketch, was inserted for the purpose of preventing forever the pas- sage of another such troublesome and unsat- isfactory law.

In 1882 the object of the former inspection law, namely, the protection of planters from imposition in the sale of fertilizers, was ac- complished by the creation of the department of agriculture with jurisdiction of the sale of fertilizers in the State, power to assess a li- cense tax, and authority to obtain samples for analysis by the State chemist (q. v.). In 1884 the constitutionality of this act was attacked without success. The supreme court held that the regulation of the quality of fertilizers came within the police powers of the State and was not violative of the constitution.

Inspection of Illuminating Oils .- On Feb- ruary 16, 1897, a law was enacted, "to pro- vide for the inspection and sale of illuminat- ing oils in the State of Alabama." This act provided for an inspector in every con-

gressional district, appointed by the State auditor for terms of four years, and each authorized to appoint as many assistants as he thought necessary. The constitutionality of this law was promptly attacked, and the supreme court declared it to be in conflict

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with section 77 of the constitution of 1901, quoted above.

On March 4, 1903, regulation of the quality of illuminating oils sold in this State, under the general police powers of the State govern- ment, was effected by means of an enactment requiring a tag to be attached to each tank, barrel, can, package, or parcel of such oil, and used for every gallon sold in bulk from tank wagons or storage. These tags are sup- plied by the State, through the Alabama Poly- technic Institute (q. v.) at Auburn, for a charge of one-half cent per gallon of oil, and one-fourth of the proceeds of the tax thus levied is appropriated to the use of the insti- tute. The professor of chemistry at Auburn is the official chemist to make tests of samples of oils, which the board of trustees is em- powered to obtain, and the copy of the official test so made, under the seal of the board of trustees, is admissible as evidence of the facts therein stated in any of the courts of this State on the trial of any issue involving the merits of the oil.

The machinery for the execution of this law evades the constitutional inhibition against State inspection officers by virtue of the fact that the State merely takes samples of oils offered for sale and uses the result of an official chemical analysis as a basis for legal proceedings against manufacturers or vendors of oils which fail to meet the pre- scribed tests.

Inspection of Feedstuffs .- In 1911 the sale of commercial feedstuffs was brought under the regulation of the State in much the same manner as in the case of illuminating oils. An act was approved on March 9 which required "every lot or parcel of feeding stuff sold, of- fered or exposed for sale or distributed within this State" to bear a label showing the net weight of contents; the name, brand or trade mark; the name and principal address of the manufacturer; the minimum percentage of crude protein, crude fat; the maximum per- centage of crude fibre; and the specific name of each ingredient used in its manufacture. Every manufacturer of such commodities is required to file with the commissioner of agri- culture and industries, before putting them on the market, a certified statement showing the character of each brand, as set out above; and to pay a tag or stamp tax of 20 cents for each ton of feed sold.

The commissioner of agriculture and in- dustries may refuse to register a brand, name, or trade-mark which would be misleading or deceptive, and he is charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of the act, with the assistance of a special food, drug and feed clerk, and two agents of the bureau who col- lect samples to be submitted to the State chemist for analysis. The reports of the State chemist upon these analyses furnish the grounds for action against violators of the law, and they are in such suits prima facie evidence of the facts set out therein. Penalties for conviction of violating the provisions of the law are prescribed, but such conviction cannot be obtained except upon the evidence

of certified chemical analyses, as outlined above.

See Agriculture and Industries, Department of; Fertilizers; Polytechnic Institute, Ala- bama.

REFERENCES .- Constitution, 1901, sec. 77; Acts, 1870-71, pp. 68-70; Ibid, 1896-97, pp. 1133- 1141; General Acts, 1911, pp. 104-111; 1bid, 1915, pp. 767-769; Codes, 1886, 1896; Ibid. 1907, secs. 14-52, 1572-1580; "Report of inspection of illuminating oils in 1913," in Ala. Pol. Inst., Bulletin, vol. 9, Sept. 1914; Steiner & Sons v. Ray et al, 84 Ala., p. 93; State v. McGough, 118 Ala., pp. 159-172.

INSPECTOR GENERAL. From 1820 to 1881 the office of inspector general was a part of that of the adjutant general, the official title being, "Adjutant and Inspector-General." When the offices were separated, the inspec- tor general was required by law to visit en- campments of State troops, in order to ascer- tain whether or not they had been properly instructed and trained. His rank, and his pay when actually engaged in the discharge of his duties, were those of a colonel of cavalry. In 1915 the duties of the inspector general were again consolidated with those of the adjutant general and his assistants.

See Adjutant General.

REFERENCES .- Toulmin, Digest, 1823, pp. 591- 623; Aikin, Digest. 2d ed., 1836, p. 315; Aikin. Digest Supplement, 1841, pp. 123-174; Code. 1907, secs. 930, 935; General Acts, 1915, pp. 745- 766.

INSPECTORS OF JAILS, ALMSHOUSES AND COTTON MILLS. See Prison Inspector.

INSTITUTIONS, STATE. Permanent ag- encies, authorized, provided, or organized by constitution or statute, to care for or meet certain duties of the commonwealth in the field of education, benevolence, reform, and miscellaneous. These agencies constitute one of the eight groups of activities through which the State as a political organization operates in meeting its duties to society. The line of demarkation between state institu- tions and some of the agencies organized as and operating upon the classification of ex- ecutive departments is very narrow. Many of the executive departments are referred to as institutions, but this designation is used largely in a descriptive sense. State insti- tutions are distinguished from special com- missions in that they are permanent and not temporary.

The educational institutions of the State are the University of Alabama, the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, the Alabama Girls' Technical Institute, the six state normal schools at Florence, Troy, Jacksonville, Liv- ingston, Daphne, and Moundville, nine agri- cultural schools, the Northeast Alabama Agri- cultural and Industrial Institute, the Alabama Schools for the Deaf and Blind, Industrial School for White Boys, Mercy Industrial Home for White Girls, Alabama Home of Refuge, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial In- stitute, Agricultural and Mechanical School

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of Alabama for Negroes, and the State Nor- mal School for Colored Students. The fore- going form a part generally of the State edu- cational system, and as such are under the general supervision of the State education department, although specifically governed by their own boards or special governing bodies. The educational system referred to includes the state educational institutions and the common or elementary schools and high schools, the latter not regarded as an institution in the sense understood by this title.

The benevolent institutions of the State are the Confederate Soldiers Home, at Mountain Creek; the insane hospitals, including the Bryce Hospital for white patients at Tusca- loosa, and the Mt. Vernon Hospital for negro insane at Mt. Vernon, Mobile County; the Alabama Sanatorium for Consumption and Tuberculosis, the Alabama Epileptic Colony, and the Alabama Tuberculosis Commission.

The reformatory institutions are the Ala- bama Industrial School for White Boys, at East Lake, and the State Training School for Girls, at Birmingham.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 12

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 724

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724