Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1880-04-08
wALHALtA, CAROLINA, THURSDAY APRIL 8 1850

charge up to tho present have spent on this
! mill and tho property on tho place $780,
600 at least. I havo doubled the produc-
tion of the mill. Ipurchased 1,160 shares
of stock, for which paid Sl5O,OOO, and
cancelled it, reducing the capital stock to
S600,O00 from $4,000. have built the
vauoluse property out of tho earnings of
tho GraDitcvllo Mill. That property is
worth $3.50, 900, and during oil this time,
in addition to these outlays, l have paid
dividends averaging 81 per cent. on the
capital stock. We have been moro fortu.
nate than some of tho other factories with
respect to the sale of our goods.
"We sell our goods at tho market value
when delivered, md ne VIC arc always
behind our orders wo bave rcapcd tho
benefit OF tho boom, and arc getting 8
cents for the same goods that other factories
under contract are furnishing for CT cents
per yard. l have orders ahead now for
$4,000 yards of cloth, and have not bale
on hand.
The vauciusc Factory,
as sad before, was built out Of the
earnings Of tho Grapitcvllc Mill without
increasing the capital stock The founda-
ton stone was laid in July, 1877, and
operations wero commenced in the fall of
1878. The erection Of tho property in
round numbers cost s35O,OOO, which
includes the erection Of 70 operatives
houses. the building of dams, bridges, con
duit pipes, &c.
"The building is constructed of praute
and brick the first story being of stone.
1t is located three miles from GranitcvIIc,
on the Charlotte, Columbia aud Augusta
Railroad. At Granitcgilic we have 23O
operatives residences, and at both factories
these houses are rented at about half their
rental value. Each house has garden
attached which is cultivated. The opera
t'ves raise their own chickens and hogs,
and arc allowed the privilege of cutting ali
the wood thcy want from the place without
charge. Houses Of from eight to nine
rooms rent for six dollars, and houses from
three to four rooms for three dollars per
month. Our operatives consist almost
entirely of families from the surrounding
country in tho ncighborhood. They have
been educated to the business by skilled
hands, aud their moral, as well as theft
mental and physical, condition has been
greatly improved. AS q rule they arc
well behaved and thrifty set; and they can
live so chcaply that they save money, some
of which they deposit with the company.
We do all VIC can to encourage this among
them.
LAND AND LABOR
"At GrantcvilIc and NaucIusc ;hcrc arc
besides the operatives, 1850 persons de-
pendent upon the factories for support.
Land here ;s very cheap. It is not worth
more than oncoiilth of what the same kind
OF land would bring at tho North There
is another great Advantage which We possess
over the Northern manufacturers, and that
is the absence Of strikes among our opera
tivcs. In nine cases out of ten t. strikes
at the North are caused and led by foreign
help. All our operatives arc raised ripht
here and arc not subject to these influences
L might say, as fur:her proof of our
success, that the stock of tho company sold
for SG3 share in 1867, pnd now is quoted
at sl23 Even this fieurs is not fair
estimate of what it Is worth bccause nobody
wants to sell could 80 il the market
Tomorrow and run it up to $3.50, or even
Slo0, just by Offering that for it. This is
not what we want, however,"
L asked tho Superintendent Why it was
that they did not employ colcrcd operatives.
lie replied that it was difficult to work tho
white and coIorcd operatives together, but
his opinion was that factory could be
started and run with coIorcd operatives
entirely superntendcd by skilled white
operatives. Such factory oorld be run
~ per cent. cheaper than ono where white
labor was used entirely The experiment,
however, had never been practically tried.
MIR. lowland, the Superintendent of the
company, who is Northern man and
thoroughly acquainted with his business, in
answer to question as to what in, his
opinion was the prospect for manufactures
In this State, said
81 think that the prospect for manufac-
tories in this State for the next five years
at least is decidedly good. There arc ioca-
tlons in this State which for the purpose
excel any locality in the world. hIanufac-
tories in tho South are no longer au cxpe-
riment: oil that is needed is good manage.
mcnt.
ADVANTAGES ENJOYED.
''The advantages we enjoy over the New
England manufacturer arc too numerous to
mention. Roughly estimated the cost of
manufacture here is ii cents per pound
cheaper. We can run all tho year round,
are not liable to strikes and have abundant
| labor at very much lower rates. In my
opinion if the first cost of applying water
power is taken iptc consideration, and the
interest on such Investment is calculated
tho steam power in certain localities. is
; really cheaper than tho water power. This
depends very much upon tho situaton,of
n Sno fnr ipoko %. pko G., -