The city's industries include manufacturing jewelries, lithographing, en graving, printing and book-binding establish ments; newspapers, the Mobile Register morning daily established in 1812; the News Item evening week day; the Advocate and the Press, these two being colored week lies. There are three cotton compress ware houses, one having two of the most powerful and rapid presses in the world, two cotton mills, one with 10,000 spindles, making knitting and weaving yarns, the other mill running 16,000 spindles and making a wide range of cotton goods; a knitting mill, overall and cloth ing factory, several saw mills, the output of which ranks Mobile as the third largest ex porter of mill production in the South, a cot tonseed-oil mill, cotton pickery, black strap stock feed mill, abattoir and packing-house, fertilizer plants, turpentine distilling plants, wood working plants, cooperage, sash, door and blind factories, two of the largest cedar, cigar box and veneer mills in the world, making 80 per cent of the entire output of the country, metal working machine shops and foundries, hoe factory, oxyacetylene welding works, aero plane and motor factory, saw and brass works, copper workers, corrugated conduits, con tainers, resin recovery works, metal box fac tory, steam boiler works, stove, car wheel, pul ley and gunshell foundry and machine shop, trolley and steam railroad car shops, ship and boat repair plants and slips, floating dry docks, one of the latter being the largest marine dock south of the government dock on Chesapeake Bay and another of sufficient capacity to take in government ships of the greatest size. The Chickasaw Shipbuilding Company a sub sidiary of the United States Steel Corporation has established a $10,000,000 plant upon the Mobile River, where ways have been set up and ships of iron and steel are under construction. In addition to this, there are five other large shipbuilding companies, three ice factories, ice cream, candy, fruit products company, broom and brush factory, coffee and spice mills, creamery, chewing gum and proprietary medi cine manufactures, peanut butter factory, trunk, bag, leather and carriage factories, leather belting company, art glass and tile works, terracotta, brick, drain pipe and pottery plant, paint mills, roofing and cornice work, brass foundries. Mobile has two electric light and power companies, one operating 60 miles of street car service, the other furnishing light, heat and power, two telephone companies and one gas company, these being privately owned, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company own ing and operating the grain elevator, having a 250,000-bushel capacity. The International Harvester Company has long been importing, through this city, its sisal grass with which it has made its binder twine and has also estab lished a cordage factory for the manufacture of ropes of all kinds and sizes. The fish and oyster, crab and turtle industries are also im portant and growing industries.
Revenues, Banking, For the year 1916 the revenue of the city of Mobile other than receipts of paving assessments, from waterworks and other than special tax for the payment of the refunding bonds was as fol lows: Taxes for general purposes, $258,474.71; business licenses, $109,684.49; city wharves, $24,382.31. Receipts from various other sources not specified above, $106,292.45, making a total of $498,834.96. The city is living within its income and even anticipating its obligations, at the same time steadily improving in all depart ments; the funds obtained from the issue of bonds amounting to $600,000 are being used in constructing docks and terminal railway con necting these docks with railroads entering the city. These bonds, authorized by an election held 13 Aug. 1917, draw 5 per cent per annum interest, payable semi-annually, May and No vember, and run for 30 years. In addition to this municipal increment to the city's enter prise, is a freight handling device known as the Telpher system, in which the city has a. financial interest, with option to take it over at a later specified date. The assessed valuation for 1915-16 amounted to $35,911,654 and the city is authorized to issue bonds aggregating 7 per cent of this amount to be expended for pur poses other than schools, waterworks sewers, etc. The total bonded debt of the city under this provision is $1,664,950. The city has five banks; the First National, established 1865 and the oldest in the State, capital $300,000, re sources $9,271,121.36, surplus and profits $658, 363.38; the People's Bank, capital $200,000, re
sources $5,000,000, surplus (earned) $200,000 and undivided profits $100,000; Merchants' Bank, capital $150,000, resources $3,478,530.41, surplus and undivided profits (earned) $262, 909.51; Union Savings Bank, capital $35,000, resources $305,054.74, surplus and undivided profits (earned) $19,215; The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Mobile, capital $100,000, surplus paid in $10,000, organized 1917.
Mobile is under the corn mission form of government, which went into operation 14 Aug. 1911, and three commis sioners were elected to serve one, two and three years respectively; the terms of all having ex pired, they have been re-elected, the time of service being extended at each election, the elections in the future to be fora term of six years, the time of one commissioner expiring at the end of every second year. The commis sion form of government has proved to be in every way more satisfactory than the former method of a mayor and council. Pop. about 51,521, or including the suburbs Creighton, Pritchards, Plateau and Whistler, about 63,000. Pop. in 1917 estimated to be 72,000.
Mobile Bay was visited by the Spaniards in 1511 and was the original seat of French colonization in Louisiana. The illustri ous brothers Le Moyne d'Iberville and Le Moyne de Bienville in 1699 founded a tem porary settlement on the back bay of Biloxi, Mississippi, but in 1702 moved it to Mobile River, 27 miles north of the bay, where oc curied the ((petticoat insurrection" of the women against too much corn meal diet. On the western facade of the city buildings, on South Royal street, is a bronze tablet with the follow ing inscription: "The city his monument. Jean Baptiste le Moyne. Sieur De Bienville 1680 1768. Who on this spot began building Fort Louis De La Mobile. The First Capital of the Province of Louisiana. May A.D. 1711. Erected by the city of Mobile May 1911." In 1711 a flood and hurricane nearly destroyed the place and the settlement was removed to the present site. The origin of the word Mobile is obscure, Judge Hamilton thinks it of Chocktaw deriva tion and means "paddling?' Mobile remained the capital until 1722 when New Orleans was given that designation. In 1763 Mobile passed into British hands and the name of Fort Conde was changed to Fort Charlotte. In 1780 the Spanish General Galvez captured it and the right of possession was confirmed to Spain by the treaty of 1783. On 13 April 1813, it was captured by the American General Wilkinson, then in command in New Orleans and for the first time the flag of the United States waved over Mobile. Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay was retaken by the British but again given up. Mobile was incorporated as a town 20 Jan. 1814; as a city, 17 Dec. 1819. In 1818 the Bank of Mobile was founded, which in the panic of 1837 was one of the four United States banks which did not fail. In 1818 steam boats were operated on the rivers and in 1839 the city was nearly destroyed by fire and rav aged by yellow fever and again in 1852 by flood and in 1853 by fever. On 4 Jan. 1861 the State authorities took possession of Forts Mor gan and Gaines at the mouth of the harbor, thought the State did not secede from the Union until 11 January. On 5 Aug. 1864 Farragut entered the harbor, bombarded the forts and destroyed the bulk of the Confederate fleet, including the ram Tennessee. Farragut cap tured the forts and Mobile surrendered to Gen eral Canby on 12 April 1865. Upon the re establishment of Federal control, the govern ment inaugurated great improvements in the harbor, widening and deepening the channel from 13 to 23 feet by 1903 and up to 1916 the channel had been deepened to 30 feet over the bar and up to the city, wit'i a width of 250 feet. During the "Reconstruction Period" the city became bankrupt and on 11 Feb. 1879 its charter was canceled and its name changed to "Port of Mobile." On 10 Dec. 1886 a new char ter was given and the old name restored. Since the close of the Civil War, the city has been called the "City of Five Flags," that of the Confederacy being the fifth to wave over the city. The lower part of the city was inundated in 1906, when a severe gale froth the sea caused the water to back up in the bay. A number of lives were lost and much property ruined. Pop. about 51,521; with surburbs 63, 000; (1918 est.) 72,000. Consult Hamilton, P. J., Mobile' (Boston 1910) ; id., (Founding of Mobile 1702-18' (Mobile 1911); Powell, L. P., Towns of the Southern States' (New York 1900).