History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 88

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

USA > Alabama > History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II > Part 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

"All animals shipped to the Depot are re- ceived and passed through the small corrals for inspection. The sick and injured being sent immediately to the isolation ward of the veterinary hospital. These pens are kept dis- infected and cleaned and are only used for the shipment of animals to and from this Depot. One large corral is used for issuing and receiving animals of the division, Camp Sheridan, Alabama. All animals received or issued are given the Mallein Test for Glanders. All shoes are removed from the animals before they are transferred to the corrals. There are two inspections of animals made daily by the veterinarians. The sick and injured being removed to the veterinary hospital for treatment."

The following officers served as Chief Vet- erinarian; 2nd Lt. Charles N. Wells, October 6-December 5, 1917; 2nd Lt. John O. Schleger, December 5-December 18, 1917; 1st Lt. John A. Phillips, December 18, 1917, to February 1, 1918; 2nd Lt. Ivan W. Allen, February 1-February 5, 1918; Capt. John R. Scully, February 5-September 1, 1918; Capt. John B. Vanskike, September 1, 1918, to May, 1919.

An independent medical department was established at the Depot by the assignment on October 15, 1917, of 1st Lt. W. H. Kenan. A number of officers succeeded him, and the medical detachment consisting of two officers and ten enlisted men was maintained dur- ing the life of the Depot.

Schools were conducted from the Depot

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

1193

for teamsters, packers and saddlers and stable sergeants. The first school was opened on February 18, 1918. Certificates showing the required grade of proficiency were presented to the following number of men in the different schools: horseshoers, 24; teamsters, 123; packers, 46; saddlers, 14; stable sergeants, 6.

In order to insure against the loss of gov- ernment property by fire, 1st Lt. Robert C. Wise was appointed fire marshal, and was assisted by 50 enlisted men, each being detailed to spe- cial duty. The Depot owned six 50-gallon chemical extinguishers which were mounted on wheels, and conveniently located through- out the Depot. Fire plugs were placed at convenient points around the large buildings or groups of buildings.

The Young Men's Christian Association opened its building for the men of the Depot on February 15, 1918. Under the direction of Mr. F. T. Banks, the men were encouraged to participate in every kind of sport, and schools for the illiterate were conducted, as- sisted by a Miss Green and Mrs. Davis for the white troops and Professor Beverly of the State Normal School of Montgomery, helped by colored teachers, conducted the school for colored troops.

Three competitive athletic meets were held during 1918, the first on July 4, the second Thanksgiving day and the third on Christ- mas day.

A good deal of money was saved by using some of the land of the Depot for the pur- poses of growing truck crops. A number of pigs were also raised.

The following noncommissioned officers, who were residents of Montgomery, received commissions, each rising to the grade of first or second lieutenant from that of sergeant: Mark Sabel, promoted to first lieutenant; James N. Field, to 1st It .; Carl A. Shack to 1st It .; Everett K. Faucet to 1st It.

The following became 2nd Its .: William A. Jones, Adolph Weil, William D. Sankey, Earnest D. Clayton, Peter N. Nicrosi and Benjamin F. Rosumeney.

With the exception of several months spent in France, Major Carl J. Schuman, a native of Tennessee, was in command of the Auxiliary remount depot.

REFERENCES .- Pictorial history of the Auxil- iary remount depot, Camp Sheridan, Montgom- ery, Ala., compiled by Herbert S. Chase; and manuscripts, letters, etc., in the files of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History.

RENFROE. Post office and station on the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad, and the Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad, in the west-central part of Talladega County, sec. 25, T. 18, R. 4 E., on Clear Creek, 6 miles west of Talladega. Population: 1888- 400; 1890-202; 1900-180; 1910-85. The first post office was located several miles west of its present site. In 1886, the Rogers brothers erected a large sawmill and planing mill at the present location, and the post office

was moved. The town was incorporated

February 22, 1887. It then had about a thousand inhabitants, most of whom were engaged in activities connected with the mills. By 1900 the mills had been abandoned and the people had departed. The charter was cancelled in December.

REFERENCES .- Acts. 1886-87, pp. 376-385; Northern Alabama (1888), p. 167; Polk's Ala- bama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 672.

REPTILES. A class of vertebrates, in- cluding snakes, lizards, crocodiles and tur- tles. They are typically terrestrial. The marine turtles and sea snakes, which spend their lives in the open sea, always return to the land to breed. There are numerous fossil orders of reptilia, long since extinct. The earliest fossil forms appear in the Per- mian Age, but their highest development was attained in the Jurassic and Cretaceous times.

The living Orders represented in Alaba- ma are Squamata, lizards and snakes, Testu- dinata, turtles and tortoises, and crocodilia, alligators, caimans and crocodiles. The last named Order is represented only in the lower section of the State, in the river estuaries and along the Gulf coast. A number of species of all the Orders are to be found scattered throughout the State with the ex- ception noted. Climatic conditions are such that most of the species hibernate during the winter months.

The non-poisonous snakes are well repre- sented. Six poisonous species are residents, including the timber rattler, the diamond- back rattler, the ground rattler, the water- moccasin, the copperhead, and the harlequin or coral snake. The lizards are not well represented. The common forms of this spe- cies are the common swift, the skink, and the ground lizard.

The Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University has about 65 species, with 250 specimens, mostly preserved in formalin and alcohol. This collection has eight tur- tles collected by Prof. Michael Toumey be- fore the War of Secession. The Alabama Museum specimens have all been identified by Julius Hurter, the well known authority of St. Louis. One of the treasures of that collection is a young specimen of Crocodilus Americanus, or the American Crocodile, taken near Mobile. With the exception of this specimen it has not heretofore been recorded any nearer than the southern end of the Florida peninsular.

Other collections are preserved at Spring Hill College, Mobile, and in the Museum of the Department of Archives and History at Montgomery. Mr. H. P. Loding and Mr. W. Russell Jones, both of Mobile, Charles Lenoir Thompson, Perdido Station, and Reese Mar- tin, Montgomery, are local collectors.

The reptiles are of much economic value. They live on the numerous insect forms so destructive of vegetable life. Snakes are usually regarded with great horror, but of the 111 species in the United States, less than 20 are poisonous. As stated, most

1194

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

snakes are perfectly harmless. Instead of a disposition to antagonize man, they stand much in fear of his presence, and unless cor- nered or suddenly disturbed they are not dangerous. The terrapin lives in the woods and rarely enters the water, feeding on her- ries, earth-worms and insects. Almost all turtles are suitable for food, and the Bureau of Fisheries has demonstrated that the terra- pin may be reared successfully for market on small farms.

REFERENCES .- Hornady, The American Natur- al History (1904), pp. 313-355; Kingsley, Text- book of Vertebrate Zoology (1908), p. 292; Pearse, General Zoology, (1917), p. 257; New International Encyclopedia (1914), vol. 19, p. 710; Ditmars, Reptiles of the World (1910), and Reptile Book (1914); Cope, Crocodilians, liz- ords, and snakes (1900); Angelo Boudousquie. "Some misjudged neighbors," in The Spring- hillian, Mobile, June, 1916, vol. 8, pp. 309-313; and Noeton, "Our snakes a national asset," in American forestry, September, 1917, vol. 23, p. 555.

REPTILES IN ALABAMA. Practically all the reptiles of the north temperate zone are to be found within the borders of the State. Climatic conditions are such that all species hibernate during the winter months.

Four of the six poisonous species of North American snakes are residents. They are the rattle snake, water moccasin, copperhead, and harlequin or coral snake. At least nine spe- cies of nonpoisonous snakes are found.

There is in the museum of Spring Hill Col- lege at Mobile a collection of specimens, made in the southern part of the State. The col- lections of the department of archives and history contain eight different species. Both collections are in sealed preservatives. No mounted specimens are in Alabama museums.

The order of lizards is well represented. The most common species is the blue-tailed, or skink, eumėces quinquelineatus. The "glass snake," ophiosaurus ventralis, a smooth, leg- less lizzard is also commonly met with. Both the department of archives and history and Spring Hill have a few representatives of this order.

REPTON. Postoffice and town in south- westesn part of Conecuh County, 20 miles east of Evergreen, and on the Southern Ala- bama branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Altitude: 379 feet. Population: 1888, 100; 1900, 170; 1910, 331.

REPUBLIC IRON AND STEEL COMPANY. An industrial corporation, incorporated in New Jersey, May 3, 1899, as a consolidation of 24 companies manufacturing bar and forge iron, and 4 ore mines-3 under lease and 1 in fee; capital stock : authorized-$30,000,000 common, $25,000,000 preferred, total, $55,- 000,000, outstanding, $27,191,000 common, $25,000,000 preferred, total $52,191,000; shares $100; bonded debt-authorized, $25,- 000,000, outstanding $16,833,000; honds of subsidiary companies guaranteed as to prin- cipal and interest by this company, $271,000;

plants owned by the company in Alabama- Pioneer blast furnace at Thomas; coal and coke properties, Warner, Sayreton, Thomp- son, Thomas, and Palos at Birmingham; ore mines, Alfretta Group, Raimund Group, Hous- ton, Tannehill, and Spaulding, at Birming- ham; limestone properties, 2 mines at Bir- mingham comprising 765 acres; products con- sist of merchant iron and steel bars, light structural and agricultural shapes, sheared plates, standard and hand spikes, bolts, nuts, turnbuckles, cold-drawn bars, tubular prod- ucts, Bessemer and open-hearth billets and sheet bars, foundry, Bessemer and basic pig iron.

The Pioneer Mining & Manufacturing Co., whose properties in Alahama were absorbed into the newly organized Republic Iron & Steel Co. in October, 1899, had its beginnings in 1868-9, when large areas of mineral lands were purchased by members of the Thomas family of Pennsylvania. However, no devel- opment was undertaken until 1886-7. At the time operations were commenced, the com- pany held properties in Bibb, Shelby, Tusca- loosa, St. Clair, and Jefferson Counties, and among them historic Tannehill and hundreds of acres of land surrounding the ruins of the old furnace. The first furnace of this com- pany was built on the old Williamson Haw- kins plantation, four miles from Birmingham, near Pratt City, and was put in blast May 18, 1888.

REFERENCES .- Poor's manual of industrials, 1916, pp. 1019-1024; Armes, Story of coal and iron in Alabama (1910), passim.

RICE. See Cereals.

RICHMOND AND DANVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY. See Southern Railway Com- рапу.

RIVER AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS. The State of Alabama is divided into five prin- cipal drainage areas: the Mobile Basin, drained by the Alabama-Tombigbee River system and converging into Mobile Bay; the Apalachicola Basin, drained by the Chatta- hoochee-Apalachicola River into Apalachicola Bay; the Choctawhatchee Basin, drained by the river and the bay of the same name into the Gulf of Mexico; the Pensacola Basin, drained by the Conecuh-Escambia River into Pensacola Bay and by the Perdido River into the bay of the same name; the Tennessee River Valley, draining to the Gulf of Mexico through the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.

The Mobile Basin comprises virtually the entire area of western Alabama, except the extreme northern portion which is drained by the Tennessee River, most of central Ala- bama, and a large part of northeast Alahama, including the waters of the Tombigbee, War- rior, Alabama, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and their tributaries, as well as the Mobile and its five mouths, constituting the Mobile Delta. The south-central part of the State composes the Pensacola Basin, while southeastern Ala- bama comprises the Apalachicola and the

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

1195

Choctawhatchee Basins. The Tennessee Ba- sin extends entirely across the northern end of the State.

Geology and Topography .- Geologically the State is divided into three areas, differing materially in the character of their forma- tions, whose streams show correspond- ing differences in topography and other char- acteristics: (1) the crystalline area underlain by igneous and metamorphic rocks; (2) the Paleozoic area of hard sedimentary rocks; and (3) the Coastal Plain formed by Meso- zoic and later sediments.

The streams have their greatest falls in passing from an older to a younger geologic formation. Tallassee Falls, on the Talla- poosa, and Wetumpka Falls, on the Coosa, occur where the streams flow from the crys- talline to the Cretaceous rocks. The shoals above Centerville on the Cahaba, above Tus- caloosa on the Black Warrior, and near Tus- cumbia on the Tennessee River are at the junction of the Paleozoic with the Cretaceous. The line dividing the crystalline region from the Cretaceous and later formations of the Coastal Plain on the southwest runs from Columbus, Ga., crossing the Tallapoosa at Tallassee and the Coosa at Wetumpka.

Water Power .- The water powers of the State are for the most part in the Mobile and Tennessee Basins. On the Tallapoosa River there is a fall of 64 feet utilized at Tallassee, and also a 40-foot dam about 3 miles above Tallassee. The fall of the Coosa River from Marble Valley to Wetumpka is 225 feet in 45 miles. Cahaba River above Centerville has a fall of 120 feet in 21 miles; the Black Warrior above Tuscaloosa, 100 feet in 30 miles; and the Tennessee River above Water- lo0, 155 feet in 41 miles, of which 85 feet is within a distance of only 14 miles. Many of the rivers and creeks tributary to these streams also have numerous falls which are capable of developing considerable water power. Many of these smaller falls and rapids have since early times been used for running flour mills, gristmills, sawmills, and cotton ginneries. These streams flow from the crys- talline plateau to the Paleozoic area, or from

- the latter to the Coastal Plain, and their falls occur at their passage from one to another of these areas.

Many of the streams of the Coastal Plain also have a sufficiently large volume of water and fall to develop good water powers. The Pea River, in the Choctawhatchee Basin, is one of these, and Holland Creek, in the Apa- lachicola Basin, furnishes the water supply of Columbus, Ga., by gravity, having a fall of 117 feet in less than 4 miles. (See Water Power. )

Navigable Streams .- Most of the larger streams of Alabama are navigable for con- siderable distances. This is true particularly of those in the Alabama-Tombigbee River sys- tem, and of the Tennessee River. Improve- ments have been made by the United States Government in aid of the navigation of many of them, and further improvements are under consideration.

See for an account of the characteristics

and history of the different streams, the fol- lowing titles: Alabama River, Big Bear Creek, Buttahatchee River, Cahaba River, Chattahoochee River, Chattooga River, Chickasaw Creek, Choccolocco Creek, Choc- tawhatchee River, Conecuh River, Coosa River, Elk River, Fish River, Flint River, Indian Creek, Little River, Lubbub Creek, Luxapallila Creek, Mobile River, Paint Rock River, Patsaliga River, Pea River, Perdido River, Shoal Creek, Sipsey River, Sucar- noochee River, Talladega Creek, Tallapoosa River, Tennessee River, Tombigbee River, Warrior River, Wills Creek.

See Steamboat Transportation; Water- borne. Commerce; Water Power.

REFERENCES .- Smith, Underground water re- sources (Geol. Survey of Ala., Monograph 6, 1907), pp. 1-4; McCalley, The valley regions of Alabama, Pts. 1 and 2 (Geol. Survey of Ala., Special reports 8 and 9, 1896); Hall, Water powers of Alabama (U. S. Geol. Survey, Water supply papers 107, 1904); Berney, Handbook (1892), pp. 503-529; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910); U. S. Chief of Engineers, Reports cited under titles of the various streams listed supra.

RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENT. The policy of the United States Government with reference to the improvement of rivers and harbors in practice has resulted in small appropriations for different streams, few of which were sufficient to complete any thoroughgoing system of improvement. This defect of the policy has for some time received recognition in the reports of Government engineers upon proposed improvements, by stipulations that the estimates were based upon the assumption that appropriations would be sufficient and continuous until the work should have been completed. It is doubt- less true that sometimes the magnitude of proposed improvements, or the uncertainty of the benefits to accrue, justified these piece- meal appropriations, but it would appear that better results would be obtained in most cases if definite plans were adopted and car- ried through to completion without unneces- sary delay.

Critics have asserted, doubtless with some truth, that large amounts have been wholly wasted in appropriations on streams, which from the nature of things could never be made navigable, or from which no benefits would accrue to the people of the contiguous territory if navigation could be secured. In recent years the tendency apparently has been toward a more carefully planned system of river and harbor improvement; and in many cases, political influence has not proved equal to the task of securing Government appropriations for unworthy and unimportant improvements. The Government engineers have not hesitated to report adversely upon many such proposed expenditures.

Policy of the State .- The adoption of a policy of State aid of internal improvements, by which was meant the improvement of rivers and the larger creeks of the State so as to permit navigation by steamboats, was

1196

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

advocated by many public-spirited men from the organization of the State in 1819. Not many had the temerity to suggest that the State itself should conduct the work of Improvement at its own sole expense. This was partly due to the fact that the State at that time had no settled revenue system, and was not financially in position to undertake any work which would involve continued expenditures.

The plan of encouraging or assisting, by direct State financial aid, or otherwise, the prosecution of such work by private enter -. prise seemed to offer fewer difficulties and promised to meet with less objection from the people. The first governor of the State suggested in his message to the legislature, October 26, 1819, that some arrangements be made to bring about the immediate exten- sion of the State's system of public roads and the improvement of its navigable streams. In 1821, Gov. Pickens emphasized the necessity for the adoption of some such policy, and recommended the creation of a board to have charge of planning and executing the work. The legislature did not see fit, however, to create such a board until 1829, and its crea- tion resulted in no material benefit; probably because it was hampered by the lack of finan- cial resources with which to carry on any work that might be undertaken. In 1831, the board was abolished.

Canals .- Among the earliest specific proj- ects for improvement of rivers and harbors by the State were the construction of canals to connect the Tennessee and Coosa Rivers, and the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers. The legislature incorporated the Coosa Navi- gation Co. in 1823. The company was chartered for 25 years and had an authorized capital stock of $100,000. The State reserved the right to subscribe for additional capital stock to an unlimited amount. The company was empowered to improve the Coosa River at and above Wetumpka "so as to allow the easy and safe ascent and descent of boats of twenty tons." As compensation for the ex- penditures made, the company was author- ized to assess tolls upon a cargo-tonnage basis. Permission for these improvements was sought and granted by Congress in 1824. Some improvements were made, and there are still in existence narrow artificial chan- nels through certain shoals, known locally as the "State Boat Chute." In 1828, Congress appropriated a part of the surplus of the Tennessee River improvement

fund for improving the Coosa, and this probably was the beginning of the Government's connection with the improvement of rivers or sections of rivers lying wholly within the State.

Waterways as Transportation Routes .- One of the generally accepted economic prin- ciples among Alabama people from the organ- ization of the State was the dependence of their agricultural, commercial, social, and political development upon convenient and cheap methods of communication and trans- portation between isolated sections and com- munities. Before the projection of railroads became common, the improvement of nav-

igable rivers seemed to offer the readiest means of providing the necessary transporta- tion facilities; hence many conventions were held for the promotion of such projects. From 1850 until the late eighteen-seventies, most of the popular conventions advocated the construction of various railroad lines, but since that time the improvement of navigable rivers has again come into prominence, due partly to the development of the National Government's policy of appropriations in aid of widely distributed improvement projects.

River and Harbor Conventions .- A conven- tion met at Chattanooga, Tenn., December 5, 1877. The call was signed by the governors ·of Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio, and a memorial to Congress was .prepared advocating the removal of Muscle Shoals, which formed the chief obstruction to navigation of the Tennessee River by boats of deep draft. A river and harbor convention met at Tuscaloosa, November 17, 1885, and adopted a memorial to Congress, requesting the deepening of the harbor at Mobile, at least to 23 feet, and the improvement of the tributary waterways of the State so as to enable the people of the interior to partici- pate in the benefits to accrue from the deep- water port.

Another convention met at Tuscaloosa, December 29, 1897, and memoralized Con- gress upon the subject of improving the Tom- bigbee, Warrior, and Black Warrior Rivers. Many reasons why the work should be under- taken at once were given, among others, the stimulation of the mineral industry, particu- larly coal mining in the Warrior field, which would result. The people of central and east- ern Alabama met in convention at Gadsden, September 27, 1899, to promote the improve- ment of the Coosa River. Congress was memorialized by this convention also, and elaborate arguments were presented to dem- onstrate the practicability and the compara- tive economy of the scheme.

Another river and harbor convention, in which citizens both of Alabama and Missis- 'sippi participated, was held at Columbus, Miss., July 30, 1901. The principal address was delivered by Hon. John H. Bankhead, then representing the Sixth Alabama Con- gressional District. This convention also pre- pared a memorial to Congress, in which statistics of agricultural, mineral, and timber productions of the contiguous country were presented in justification of the proposed expenditures. All these conventions pub- lished proceedings and exerted considerable influence in bringing about the subsequent adoption of Government improvement-plans.

Grand Total of U. S. Appropriations .- A statement follows, showing total appropria- tions made by Congress for improvement of rivers and harbors in the State of Alabama from the establishment of the Government to 1916 inclusive.

Locality in Alabama. Total.

Alabama River. $ 1,389,000.00 Cahaba River. 45,000.00

Mobile Bay and Mississippi

Sound

55,000.00

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

1197

Mobile Harbor, Bay, and River Tallapoosa River ....

7,844,094.89 44,000.00

12,086,075.94 .

Choctawhatchee River, Ala.

and Fla. 298,176.62

Coosa River, Ga. and Ala. (in- cludes operating and care of locks and dams) .

2,984,932.01

Escambia and Conecuh Rivers, Fla. and Ala. . 193,200.00

Tennessee River (above Chat- tanooga and below Riverton not included ) : Hales Bay to

Browns Is- land ...... $1,589,455.04 Muscle Shoals Section (in-

cludes oper-

ating and

care 0 1

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 88

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