Wayne County has seven hundred square miles of land, two hundred square miles of which are underlaid with iron deposits, almost all in sufficient quantities and of a quality that would justify actual investment and operation. Indeed, in point of natural wealth it would be hard to find a county that surpasses Wayne. Timber, iron ore, marble, building rock, phosphate, kaolin, cement rock, mineral paint, fertile valleys, sturdy, God-fearing, liberty-loving people—what more do you want—where else can you find such a plethora of good things? As we write, an endless procession of wagons is passing, bearing cross-ties, telegraph and telephone poles, cotton and other farm products, all consigned to merchants here or to be shipped direct by way of the Tennessee river—nature’s great highway—for Clifton is a mighty part of commerce, and is the entrepot for a vast extent of territory. For half a century the mainstay of this section has been the timber and tie industry. Yet in all this time the timber has only been exhausted from a ten or twelve mile fringe fronting the Tennessee river. Some idea may be gained of the immensity of this industry when it is stated that there are shipped annually from Clifton alone 3,000,000 feet of lumber and 300,000 cross-ties. The principal woods are oak, poplar, ash, hickory, chestnut and pine. There are several hundred thousand acres of fine timber lands in Wayne County that are yet untouched. Wayne County unquestionably possesses fine advantages for the farmer, the stock man and the lumberman. But it is as a mineral section its advantages are so apparent and overwhelming that the wonder grows that a second Birmingham does not mark the site where Clifton now stands. It may all be explained in one phrase—lack of railroad facilities. Clifton has magnificent river facilities, and they will be measurably increased when the government work on Colbert Shoals is completed. At present Clifton is at the head of deep water navigation. Straight through to St. Louis the traffic is unimpeded the year round, and boats touch at this point every day. Yet, while this service is admirable, it cannot altogether compensate for the lack of railroad facilities. However, the time is near at hand when this deficiency will be remedied. For some time a movement has been in progress which it is believed will eventuate in the building of the Tennessee Industrial Railroad. The road as surveyed will run from Fox Bluff to Florence, Ala., a distance of nearly two hundred miles. Clifton is only forty-two miles east of Florence, and that enterprising little city is making every effort to get into the Wayne County ore fields. It is generally believed that the Frisco System is behind this project. This would give the Frisco an almost direct line from the Birmingham and Wayne County iron districts into St. Louis and Chicago and open a great section of country not now traversed by any road. [Illustration: I. G. RUSS