St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-09
FOR WAGON MAKING,
st. Paul a Great Center For
the Manufacture Of All
- Vehicles.
Supplying the Great Trade OF
the Country TO the
West.
Fifteen Factories Turn Out 8
EIillion-DOllar Annual
Product.
Railroad Facilities and Lum-
Der Material the TWO
Great Factors.

turing industries of st. Paul that have
already been noticed by the GLOBE,
there is one that, while already of con-
siderable Importance, is destined to
still greater extension and prosperity
i'll the near future. This is the manu-
facture Of wagons, carriages, sleighs
and other vehicles. From the founding
of the city wagons have been made in
St. Paul, but until few years ago no
attempt was made TO enter the field and
build Tor the Northwestern trade. nearly
all Of the so-called factories doing moth
ing but what is known as custom work.
In recent years a change has been
slowly coming about, and st, Paul
wagons, carriages and sleighS are well
known all over the Northwest.
Although large number Of men are
now constantly employed in this indus
try, it cannot be said that ii is other
wise than in its infancy. Raw material
of the best quality in the way of hard
woods can be had by the manufacturers
of st. Paul for less than the Eastern
and and Middle states makers can Sc
cure it, while the cost Of the iron needed
Is as low as it is in the East. for. while
the freight to the Northwest costs some
thing, it makes little difference whether
it is paid on the raw material or the
manufactured articles. Labor, another
great item in this business. costs no
more in st. Paul than in other manu-
featuring cities, and, as rule, it is
more intelligent and ambitious.
The territory open to the manufact-
Urers of St. Paul is practically unlimited
in extent, and has been worked very
little. 1t reaches from the great lakes
to the Pacific coast. and is a country
which is being rapidly settled up by a
superior class of people, who must have
wagons and carriages to carry on their
business. They naturally would prefer
to purchase near at hand, if they could
be had. An example of this was gwen
when a new factory devoted to the
making Of certain class of carriages
was established in st. Paul several years
ago. The company made a fine grade
OF spring wagons, and the local dealers
iii Minnesota soon found ii out. The
result was that the factory could not
keep up with its orders.
Quality First of All.
THAT St Paul factory turns out good
work" remarked a dealer to a GLOBE
man who CHANGED to visit him at his
place OF business in the western part Of
the state, "but the trouble is | cannot
The farmers like their work, and seem
to prefer it to that brought into the
state from Indiana and Ohio"
The enlargement of this factory en-
ables It's prOprietOrS to fill all orders
promptly at the present time, and so
the principal complaint of the retail
dealers has been removed, and a Won
derful expansion of the business of that
firm is the result. In the finer grades
of carriage work the reputation of the
st. Paul factories has been eS-
tabliShed. The people of the
Northwest who chance 10 want
anything built to order in this line
always come TO the SANITY City. This
is the case in the heavier wagOn-making,
such as trucks needed by lumbermen
and miners. But ia the making of the
ordinary farm wagon the st. Paul factO-
ries have not been as vigorous compel
itOrS of the Eastern manufacturers as
they will be in the future. The thou
sands of new and cheap farm wagons
yearly demanded by the people of Min
nesOta, the DakOtas and tue states fur
Their west ought all to be made in st.
Paul for the simple reason that they
can be manufactured here as low as in
any other center in the United States, if
not at a less cost. The fine distributing
facilities of St. Paul come into play in
this as in all other branches of business
or manufacturing. Railroads radiate in
all directions and tap every portion of
this highly favored section.
This fact was a controlling one in
the minds of the men at the head of
the great Wood Harvester company.
After looking over all the chief cities OF
the Northwest, these men decided upon
st. Paul as the most advantageous
point from which to distribute and man
ufacture. They found here great COM
merclal houses in the employ of which
are a legion of active and intelligent
statesmen, all of whom are loyal to the
city and are ready to speak a good
word for home institution. This latter
fact Is said to have great influence with
the Wood people. But, be this as it
may. the fact that this great business
is coming to St. Paul and will be Operat-
ed from here cannot fail to give the
wagon and carriage manufacturing in
duStry a great impetus. 1t the farmers
OF the Northwest buy their harvesting
machinery in St. Paul, why can they
not be led to purchase their wagons and
carriages here also?
An UnboUnded Field.
In connection with this question of a
maIke tits not necessary TO state that
other things being equal the people of
Minnesota. the DakotaS and the North
west in general prefer to purchase their
supplies of all kinds Of the Twin City
manufacturers and wholesalers. OF
course there are a few shOTt-Sighted,
CnviOuS men In every community who
prefer to build up manufactures and
cities in distant states rather than in
their own, but this class is not numer-
Gus in Minnesota and the DakOtaS. The
benefits reaped by the farmers OF the
country from their proximity TO these
two great Northwestern centers, Min
neapOliS and St. Paul, are incalculable
One of the most prominent farmers of
Southern Minnesota, in speaking of
this a few days ago, said:
Our people are interested in the
growth of Minneapolis and st. Paul
quite as much as the people of these
cities themselves. Take it down our
way FOR example. Daily milk trains run
to st. Paul and Minneapolis. affording
our farmers Il ready and profitable mar
ket for their milk. This is only one of
the benefits we reap from the Twin
Cities, and why should we not feel in
terested in their growth? | notice we
reap no such benefits from Chicago. !
hope both St. Paul and Minneapolis will
become manufacturing centers and
double their population in the next ten
years. If they do the whole state. and
in fact The entire Northwest, will reap a
portion of the prosperity in them"
Carriage and wagon making in its
various branches is al present one of the
Il =
skilled wOrkmen finding employment in
1t in the fifteen factories and work
shops. The growth OF this business,
while not phenomenal, has been healthy
and solid, ana promises great things
for the future. The cheapness of raw
material and the increasing prosperity
OF the Northwestern farmers ought in
the next five years to increase this in
dustry at least tenfold. The great for
ests of pine, oak, maple and other
woods, the lumber of which is de-
IOaOdpd FOR. fl1iS business are tanned by