The Portland daily press., 1884-09-30
An Important Maine Industry.
How Plush is Made-GOods that are Emi
tated in European Hnquisitive man is
Warmly Received.

Lewiston Journal.)
Last year the Journal made a paragraph
concerning a wonderful display of the
Sanford mills of Sanford, Maine. These
mills have the reputation that is world wide.
Embosomed in the quiet retreat of country
town by the rapid waters of the Mousam
river. they shun notoriety. Yet not con-
Germ in the world that deals in elegant goods,
in glorious pushes, in the perfection of
robes and blankets, but knows them. They
make goods that Paris initiates. These
pushes are the bone of contention of New
York's great upholsterers. Their carriage
robes no other mandatory in the world can
manufacture by machinery. Their goods
cannot be matched in Europe. Several
times European manufacturers have attempt
ed to discover their secret, and have failed.
The secret of their manufacture and their
machinery is still their own. Not only this
but their secrets have multiplied. Whole
new lines of goods are shown IN City Hall
this year.
Few people know that we have such an
industry in Maine. 1t is just trife queer
that down in Maine should be made the sim
ported pushes" of America. At the left of
the center aisle of the City Hall the Journal
found Mr.. Goodall Tuesday in perfect halo
of color. Nothing is more difficult than to
impart conception of the beauty of this
exhibition of the Sanford Mills. The effect
of the exhibition is decided 1t is the en-
bodiment of luxury. An arrangement with
a view to harmony of color is made. The
goods are gorgeous in shades of color. Plush
carriage robes of the utmost elegance are in
masses upon one table. Stacked in pyramids
is display of deep-colored pushes embossed
and crimped. The sides of the galleries are
decorated with horse blankets. Exquisite
shades OF table scarfs occupy one separate
table. Hung from an elevated rack are the
rich folds Lof plush portieres made by no
other mandatory in the world, more beau
tiful to the eye than the costly Turcomans,
and yet so absolutely cheapened by the cost
OF production by machinery that they may
be sold at half their present price and yet
reap rich harvest of bank notes for the
manufacturer. Nothing like this exhibition
have we seen elsewhere. 1t has the crowds
of the Fair around it. The ladies flock to it
by instinct.
There Is fascination in its color. They
are like the kalaidaseaaA--a.rri A-o l..--..-s-
in the softnesS of the mohair plush. The
mottled back of the tiger alone compares
with the elegance of the pieces that adorn
the tables.
4 Mr.. Goodall whom the Journal found in
the midst of this exhibit is the son of Thomas
Goodal the founder of this business. Mr.
Goodall senior, was an English lad years
ago. He served an apprenticeship of the
old time stamp and when of age was with
out fortune other than brains. Since then
whatever of wealth CT fame has come to
Mr.. Thos Goodall has come through clear
grit.
He had good share of worldly hardships
before he came to America. The new land
found quite as many more. Mr.. G. settled
in Rhode Island. After time he set up
business for himself. He founded the mill
at Sanford sixteen years ago. Brains and
grit have made them a success. And of the
Sanford Mills that made only the blankets
have grown the Mousam River Mills with us
elegant carriage robes and the GOodall mills
established during the past year and making
the most wonderful line of pushes that the
world has ever seen. Mr.. Goodall has
practically retired from work. Last year an
accident seriously impaired his health. He
pass portion of the year in Europe and
portion in Bermuda. His sons conducted
the business and are progressive inventors.
Mr.. Goodal said in response to the in
of mohair, silk or wool. Nothing else is
equal to mohair. Silk is not its equal in
many respects. Wool mats and loses its
lustre. 'Mohair,' he continued, is perhaps
misleading to you. When your wife, oh
you haven't any wife-so much the worse
for you-well, when some one else's wife
calls for mohair cloth at the store, she gets
something brittle, stiff and unbending. Now
that is not what we think of as mohair.
"Feel of that plush"
We feel of the plush. 1t is soft and silky.
fha lncf - To
crowd catches.l We get our mohair from
England. 1t comes from Turkey, where it
grows on the back of the Angora goat. 1t
comes in fleeces. The staple after being
combed is as long as that, measuring nearly
two feet with his hands.) Out of one hun
dred bales received in London from Turkey.
we get only 10 per cent. in sorts. That is:
In sorting 100 bales of the finest. 1t costs
us about 81 per pound. In comblng, so per
cent. is waste. We call that the noils. The
mohair is so fine that it can hardly be told
from silk. Mohair is the material for plush
es. 1t Is susceptible of the most delicate
shades. 1t will wear like iron.
There is the old saying that nothing will
WAR lilro leather. material for ear
seats it has been practically demonstrated
that mohair plush will oHtwhere leather.
The Sanford mills make immense amounts
of plush for car seats. Mohalr can be
DOuRnL III dlk buC 81 uCo HUN ~ C6ntS W Dl
per pound. Mohair is alive and you cant
kill it."
Mr.. Goodall shows us novelty in pushes
invented by himself during the past year.
There where eight colors in it.
First the pattern is drawn in watercolors''
be says, "then the machinery has to be
made. We have just got Ibis running after
months of labor. We have been obliged to
stop all other pushes and run all our help
on this We have sold up for months and
months ahead. One New York firm handles
it all"
'What is the firm?' we ask.
Mr.. Goodall prefers not TO say.
Probably, we suggest, it passes for i'm
ported goods. So, in fact, Mr.. G. assures
us.
''We have sent samples of it to Paris to be
inflated" said he. eve cannot make it
fast enough. A dozen samples are now on
water bound for France"
The feature of this novelty was its flower
like embossed work in combinations of col
ors. Great eyes of color look out from its
depth. The rich red of the centre faded in
to lighter shades and then into molten
gold. They looked like great lilies and
roses. These goods are used wholly in up
hoIstering. They can be made nowhere
else by machinery in the world. The secret
of the machines is kept within the four walls.
The only mohair combing machines in
America are the Sanford Mills. They are
made in England. The looms for the mills
are made in America. The important parts
are made within the mill. Two or three
years of patient study have been put upon
single points of the machinery.
These are the secrets that are guarded.
Occasionally attempts are made to ferret
out the essential principles OF this manufac-
ture. Men have no conjunction about
stealing ideas. The law does not touch a
man who steals within bounds of copy
right or patent. Up stairs in the Sanford
Mills, speaking Of the three mills collective
", are the chief portions of the machinery.
Nobody is allowed to enter this portion of
the mill unless by the permission of the firm.
The operatives are skilled and trusted men,
with few girls. In quiet country town
every face is known. THIS is an advantage
that led to the determination of the location
of these mills. A stranger who enters San
ford is easily traced if his business bears an