New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-03-16
PATTERSON SILK MILLS.
GROWTH OF MANUFACTURE AND TRADE.
THE INDUSTRY IN WHICH rAsHAiC 'o'"''
-srRIKE OF RIDBoS wEAVERs'


rbo ,o.,o,,+ str;le of the silk ribbon wenvers
l., pa,o ~ I bas directed much public attention IN
.The ,ons NJ America" There Is general ldea thd'
Paterson "a the seat extensive silk manufactures o"'
few people realize how tn" silkindsry oVersan""'cNe'
other faotor i'm Pater-ons Importance, ana no" ia tuIh
paterson surpasses every other city In the extent q" It's
operations In this branch OF textile production II ia not
70 be spposed however that nothing is done IN Paterson
hesiea the making of silk goods n Ia manufacturing
city OF considerable prominence In other respects anu l's
industries arc not insignificant. Locomotive making at
present somewhat depressed, In its paDy days-Whch
Paterson people will not admlt gone forever
gave work 10 5000 men, ana showed an annual
product Of $7,00OO00 large rolling MILL iron WORKS
several machine shops, immensc faI-spnning MILL
two shirt factories and many other manufacturing estaD
hshmcnts arc among its Industries. But hk oycrtopS
all and the par sis NJ that industry wOud he almost
an inevitable ruin 10 the city, which, however loohs
much further back than the establishment Of the silk
manufacture for the founding OF H. manufacturing pros
perity King Cotton rciGuing there once, and IN
those days Paterson TO the rest of the country IN
coton-spnning almost what she IL In silk making
For in 1875 the city led all others In the Middle
states in the cotton manufacture, and was out
RANKED the Nation only by Lowell. The cotton
industry has wholly disappeared from Paterson
and still fUnrtsbcs 10 extent but ia progress has
not kept pace with that Of the oOuntrys Development
and IL has long since been crowded to the wall by s more
galy rubed sister. The city owes its foundation a.
manufacturing place To its almost uneqnalteh "a'r
power the days before had decreed that the hum
OF machinery need not always b. mingled with The voice
Of o Drawing stream.
THE FEST OF PATERSON MILLS.
Alerander Hamilton and ;his associates, who formed
"Thc Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures -
still the autocrat Of the Pas.aic Rivers flow above the
yreat fallsfound In 1892 ten dwellings and chnTch
the OF the busy clty Of to-day with Its 10000 IN
habtanlL Cotton mill followed cotton mill IN rapid sue
cess0 and at the birth Of The silk industry thriving
manufacturing town ready for ita growth and TIL
umphs John Ryle sl sik manufacturer In Paterson,
has been generally regarded the pioneer In The buFi-
ues5 in that city Bu, Mr.. Rye's earliest ventures
in making silk In America had been IN Massachusetts
and time before he went 20 Patterson an attempt
had been male TO plant Of siik machinery there
which a brother Of samuel Colt, of pistol fame had
brought from abroad about 1893. In 1910 Mr. Ryle and
George W. Murray bought this machinery, rusty from
dsusc and years later Rye bought Murays interest
in the mill. Other pioneers were James Waltha aud
John G. Benson, and in 1855 IIamil Booth SIN lead
ing name IN the trade began business Two years from
that time statistics show that four factories were making
silk IN Paterson In 1850 tho report sl four fac
tories which In 1896 had grown 10 twelve with 1000
operatives; In 1873, twenty-five factories and 1000
operatives and In 1876, thirLytwo factories and 5000
operatives. But the four OT FIVE years follow
ing the Centennial year that tho silk manufacture made
It's mos; gigantic strides. Tnmbul's industrial Paor
son" gave the staus Of the industry IN Paterson at the
close OF 1881. Thera wer5 nney-threc separate
factories engaged in six manufacture" In
Guiding all tho varied processes except dyeing,
employing 5000 operatives paying S53oOOOO annually
IN WAGES, ana turning ont $t6O0OO00 IN value of annual
product sikdyeing, IN addition this, employed 975
mon IN ten establishments, who received S625OoO an
nually in wages Sixteen firms were making silk manu-
facturors supplies The recapitnlaOn OF frms and cor
poraona IN the six manufacture and It's Dependencies in
Paterson in 1891 was: 100 concerns, employing $4,000
persons paying 900 900 in annual wages and prodic
Ing 81 1000 900 in gross yaIue OF goods in the year
In the report of the OF 1880, William G. Wyckoh
secretary Of the SIX Association OF America, had mono
graph on the silk industry, and gave some statistics
which showed that the rank Paterson occupied Justly en-
titled Il he called The Lyons Of America" Thehgucs
he gave were P8ssac County; but Passsc County Is
Paterson as far as the silk manufacture ia concerned
The figures usod IN this comparison were somewhat
under tho estimates by Trumbul hut IN the ccn"us
tables the classification mixed toIules' has note:
six Implying that some Of the establishments
usually regarded silk factories which make goods com
posed Of Of silk and COTTON not put down
with the elk manufacturing establishments. There
were then 3s1 ak factories IN the Union, eighytwO OF
which were IN Paterson. The country had S19,OOoOOo
of capital invested In this manufacture OF which S5,6GO
600 was in Paterson Tie gToss annual
product OF finished goods vas SlO,OOo,OOO
and Sill 100000 Of ths was III Paterson.
No other county in tho Union approached Passaic In
this industry and also New-Jorsey outranks oil the
other states In gross value OF manufactured Hk pro-
duets New York ranhs next 10 P1Salc Comfy, WITH
81 OOQa little bali mucb although II reports
more silk factories than Paterson. PhladelphIa comes
third with IS OOO 900 and Hartford County Conn, Hud
SOD County, H. j. Tolland County, Conn., and Hampshire
County, Mass follow IN the order named. Mention
should be made in speaking Of the Paterson six Industry
Of what popularity known a. The outside
snncxcs," the homo silk mills. Three OF
the largest concerns have within the last
4hnfx Afota 1,N
ablshug large mills juncts TO their Paterson shops;
the object being secure god labor market mainly for
fife throwing" processes, In phases removed from the
annoying Influences and temptations OF trades unonsn
and socialism abont New IOrk city. Dexter, Lambert
Co run the "BellemOnt" NH al Iawley, PENN where
there is fine water power; tive Pho'nx Manufacturing
Company operates the Adelaide" Mil at Allentown,
Penn and Pelgram & Meyer have IT Boon,on, n j.
ORIGIN OF TIE REC Nj STRIKE.
The strife OF the ribbon weavere, ended few days ago,
was more foolish than STRIKES usually are. Ribbon
weayors the best paid cas Of weaYers-probaby the
best paid class Of textile operatives In the world Three
dollars dny easily earned 81 90 are the wages Of
hundreds aud Of the beet hands take ont semi
monthly pay envelope that would be the envy of many
head clerk in largo stOir. cit was the most
foolish thing 1 heard Of" said leading
manufacturer TRIBUNE reporter the other day.
WAC watching the parade Of the strikers from tie window
Of my MILL and man in the ranks whose face re-
membcrcd wen He used TO I've In my mill and was
sered my hand He took ont In one payment OF two
weeks $50 and admitted that he could II he bad chosen,
got out anOtuer cut which would have made his two
werkss wares 500 And then they chose such strange
time 10 strike when the trade was bad and Manufacturers
were RctLg ABOUT ninety -uo coh'S vi uVI"i vi ous
lIy."
Emisesres from the r.'OD-wesyers Of New York
started the strike They LAD been out some OF them
sixteen weeks, and ut as succeeded In peruading the
Paterson wcaver TO Join them. The 1rst committee %
the Paterson striaers who presented The original de
nland upon the manufacturers for uniform rate Of
varp4-amoupting cases To an mcreaAe, hut In
others To decrease, actual strlke for lower
consisted of three were not wesvers at all Two
were German puhcana uf the Justus SchwaD sye; the
other was newsdeaeT, and all were rabid Socialists,
conspcuuus a tho meetings where John Most preached
the gospel OF anarchy large proportion OF the
English; others erun bWIbs aid French. Some Of
them are talntd with socialism 1r anlrchism After
several weeks neing. during which each eide pre-
srned elaborate schedules Of only ~ have them