Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-06-27
What MilWaukCeans Brag of.

Correspondence Chicago Timesl
Our wheat business is what we some
times speak of, and its growing import
ance may be appreciated from the fact
that Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railway alone has employed nearly five
thousand cars in the business this sea-
son without, at any time, having en-
ough to do the business really demand
ed of that line. Those in position to
know, estimate that the receipts Of
wheat at this market for this year will
amount to nearly or quite
FORTY MILLION BUSHELS.
1t is getting to be the rule that we
need new elevator every year. Mil
wau kee has the reputation of making
some beer = although that industry
sinks into insignifcance compared with
several others that ~ill be mentioned
and last year We turned out 400,-
600 barrels of the beverage. The
capital employed amounts to 81, 000,-
600, and the workmen engaged in the
manufacture rocoive annually about
$3.50, 600 in wages. Tho manufacture
of leather is really one of our greatest
industries. There are 90 tanneries
here, employing at least 1000 people,
and producing nearly $5,000,000 Of
leather each year. One firm produces
10000 sides of leather annually. Mil
waukee is not known as the -" Flour
City," and [ venture to say, not one in
a hundred of our people know that we
are entitled to rank among the very
first of the four-producing centres Of
the country. Minneapolis is noted tor
having the largest Touring mills in the
United States, vast affair running 80
run Of stones; yet here in Milwaukee
we have II great mills, and among
them two that rank second and third,
in point of capacity, among the mills
of the country, one running
THIRTY-sEvEN RUN OF STONES,
and the other
THIRTY-TWO.
The capital invested is enormous, and
the amount produced amounts to over
S6,000,000. One mill alone turns out
81, 100000 worth of the "staff of life"
every year. Several Of the mills pro-
duce exclusively for foreign markets.
We have some money, as is evinced by
the fact that $401, 0S7, 625 were de-
posted at our IA banks for the year
ending December, 1876. Isn't that
something to brag about? How many
of our citizens know that we actually
have
FORTY-THREE MILES OF DoCKAGR
for the commerce of the lakes to IN
load at? For many years Milwaukee
has had reputation for its great
wholesale grocery houses. From the
earliest time in its history this city has
been able tc compete successfully with
Chicago and St. Louis in this particu-
lar line, until now our merchants claim
that their trade is actually reaching
out and securing the lead in localities
that are naturally tributary to other
places. For instance, our grocery
houses assert that they are obtaining
the custom of northern Missouri that
by virtue of location would seem to
belong to st. Louis. There are Is
great grocery houses. doing an aggre-
gate business of many millions annu-
ally. | may mention as
MINOR STATISTICS OF INTEREST,
that we have GO saloons, and Go min
listers to fight their evil effects. We
have A private schools and I colleges
and academies. Our public school
buildings are among the largest and
finest in the country, and can accom-
modate about 10000 pupils. We
have 81 law firms; and, what is quite