St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-11

work done in st. Paul in this
line can be found, and it can
be truthfully said that no other manu-
featuring industry has SO increased dur
ing the past four years in the SANITY
city. In this branch of wood working
alone there are now no less than 500
men employed. nearly all of whom are
skilled WOrkmen, whose yearly wages
are 5000 per man on an average. This
year no less than 35,000,000 feet of lum-
Der Will be used by the five factories in
operation, and $3.50, 900 will be paid out
III wages. And, Notwithstanding the
great depression that has existed in the
Northwest during the past three or
four years the, business done by the
factories in operation has more than
doubled. A table has been prepared
showing the gain in the past ten
years. This shows an increase of
more than 800 per cent. but
1t Is fair to remark that by far the
greater part of this great increase has
come during the past three years. at a
time when many other branches of bust
ness have been in manner a a stand
still. This has come about by reason of
the fact that the factories have not been
satisfied with the business from the ter
ritOry Immediately tributary, but have
reached out over the entire country. At
the present time one of the sash, door
and interior finish factories of St. Paul
has the contract 10 furnish the material
for two of the worlds fair buildings at
Chicago-the agricultural and horticuIt-
ural buildings; also for the Masonic
block in the Windy City, which is to be
twenty-one stories in height and the
largest office building in the world; the
new Equitable building in Denver. a
large building in Seattle and new
hotel at Meridian, Miss. And these are
only a few of the many contracts from a
great distance received by the St. Paul
factories and filled by work done right
here. The table showing the growth of
this branch of the woodworking indus
try i'll the last ten years follows:
Lumber consumed (fO 100000 360OO.0OO
Value of output 49,. . S5Ol,OOJ S1,5e0GJO
Wages Paid. ............. $150000 S4S0.000
No. men employed 800. $50 800
No. Factories ........... ,
AS has been tated above, by far the
greater part of this increase has come in
the last three or four years. In what
are known as 'boom times" people
were too much interested in speculation
to give their attention to anything solid
or substantial, even though the future
prosperity of the city demanded il.
With the exit of speculation in real
estate came genuine and solid growth
and advance i'll the woodworking
industry, as we'll as in all
other manufacturing lines of bust
ness. The manufacture of sash,
door and interior finish work is a bust
ness that depends for growth and sue
cess more upon the energy and hustling
of those engaged in it than almost any
other line of manufacturing carried on
in St. Paul. If pushed properly, as has
been demonstrated by the largest of the
factories located here, the field is I'M
limited and constantly increasing in its
needs and demands. 1t is more than
Minnesota, more than the great North
west, big, growing and prosperous as it
is, and even more than the whole United
States. Having the raw material so
close at hand and capable of being de-
livered at the doors of the factories at
small cost, gives st. Paul a great adyan-
tage over other cities in which are found
factories engaged in the same work.
Owing to the climate which always gives
Minnesota and Wisconsin sufficient
snow TO enable lumbermen to get in
their stocks at low figures they can
make a profit at price that would
mean an absolute loss to them if they
were logging" in mountainous cOun-
tries where snow is in many seasons
altogether an unknown quantity. The
cheapneSS of raw material and its
nearneSS is an advantage that cannot be
OvereStlmated. In many factories to the
east of Minnesota the spectacle is seen
of an absolute lack of the right kind of
woods. At the present time manufact-
urerS i'll Indiana and Ohio are the own
erS OF thousands of acres of hardwood
timber lands in Minnesota and Wiscon-
sin, bought to fail back upon when the
hardwood timber in their own field is
exhausted, and, by the way, this time is
near at hand. The question arises.
however, why cannot st. Paul do all
this business, located as she is, and save
the shipment of this timber such dis
lance?
One Fair Sample.
The growth of all of the st. Paul fac
tories in this branch of woodworking
has been gratifyingiy large, but there is
one of them that has had phenomenal
advance in the past four years, and
Judging from the outlook at present the
history of the next four will show an
even more remarkable growth. This fac
tory commenced business in st. Paul in
1881, giving employment to three men
two IN the Office and one teamster. The
factory was at that time located in the
city of Winona, but in 1881 manufact-
ured stuff to the amount of S65, 900 was
sold in this city. The next and each
succeeding year showed marked in
creases, and in 1887 the com
pany removed its plant from Winona,
enlarged it and commenced business
anew, giving employment at the start to
$50 men. A splendid location. with
every facility for manufacture and ship
ping, was secured, and every year since
has seen a marked and wonderful
growth. The outside field has been in
vaded, and business built up that
promises great Things for the city in the
future. The growth of this company's
business in the last four years looks like
this in tabular form:
Lumber consumed (ft.) 100000 30 100000
Value OF output. $4,000 S1.000000
Wages paid ............. Sl50.O00 $300000
Number men employed. -25o' 500
The worked turned out by this COM
pany goes to all parts of the United
States and even down to old Mexico
andsup to Manitoba. Since the factories
and workshops commenced business in
this city large and beautiful part of
the city has been covered with the neat