Omaha daily bee., 1891-09-06
TALKS ON OMAHA FACTORIES
Laundry and Toilet Soap Of all Kinds Made
in Omaha.
THE MAKING OF WAGONS AMI CARRIAGES.
Pro minent Business Men and Manu-
factu-ers Talk About the Necessity
ofDoing something to Slim
uIatc Trade.

As 10 what class OF goods they are making in
Omaha, called upon the soap factories aud
carriage factories during the past week.
There are two soap factories in the city
tho w. A. Page Soap company, located at
First and Hickory streets, where they have
as fine plant as can be found in the west,
and tho p j. Quealoy Soap company, which
was established by Mr.. Quealey in 1868
These two factories employ thirty-three
people with a pay roll of $4,000 a year.
Careful inquiry as to the families of the en-
ployes showed that the factories are directly
supporting ninty-fve people. The average
was brought down by the number OF boys
and young men employed who are not
credited with supporting any one but
themselves. though the majority Of them do
contribute more or less TO the support of
families.
Both factories buy all their supplies in
Oma na that can be obtained here. The tai
low comes mostly from South Omaha pack
ing houses, the boxes are made bv the
Omaha box factories, ana the Wrappers are
printed bv Omaha job offices. They pay all
the way from 5000 to SiOO per month Tor
printing alone.
The method Of making soap Is apparently
very simple, and yet 1t requires great deal
of care and thorough knowledge OF the
business. inc tallOW, Clean ana WnlJe, Is
placed with other ingredients in large ket-
ties, those in the w. A. Page factory hold
40 900 pounds each The operation OF boiling
requires ABOUT three days 1t is then drawn
out into Il mixer, where by tho aid OF re-
volving wheel. fashioned something like the
screw propeller on n steamboat, it is thor
oughly mixed, and at the same time any
desired Ingredient such as perfume, is
ADDED.
From the mixer it is run out into what are
IIaal ,t,sxgl
as boxes on wheels. The frames are about
four feet long, three and half high, an d
fifteen inches wide.
After being thoroughly cooled the soap is
cut into slabs the thickness OF a bar and laid
onto the table of machine which pushes it
against wires placed the right distance apart
to cut 1t into strips the width of bar. These
strips are in turn placed into similar ma
chine that cuts them in the right length and
the bar Of soap is completed. The better
grades all go through the stamping machines
and are then wrapped and placed in boxes
While the process is briefly described, 1t
REQUIRES about two weeks to complete, as tho
SOAP has TO be placed on racks and cured sew
eral days and then considerable time is lost
In cooling.
The Omaha soap factories make all kinds
Of soap, from tho cheapest to the best laun-
dry soap ana all kinds of toilet soap. AT the
w. A. Page factory saw ten different kinds
OF toilet soap, the best being equal to
best laundry soap Is also equal to the best
makes of other soap factories, and why should
1t not BET The Omaha factories have exactly
the same kind Of machinery as the factories
In other cities and the materials are identical.
I have heard ladies say that they could not
use any SOAP but some certain well advertised
brands made in eastern cities and yet
chemical analysis of an Omaha soap of tho
same price would show the two soaps to be
practically the same.
,,all bpSinaoo mon raoa,tir do
cided to introduce the principles OF home
patronage into his household, put his wife
drew the line Oh soap She must have IS
best laundry made In the east, but she finally
consented cons tee to give the Omaha made article a
trial. The verdict was unequlvical, 81 can't
get along with the Omaha soap" The
gentleman was not quite satisfied and begged
that one more trial might be made This
time he bought an equal number of bars of
the Omaha soap and tho lady's favorite
brand and after changing the wrappers had
them sent home. Again the verdict was
against the Omaha article, but when the lady
learned OF the trick and that she had really
pronounced against her favorite, and had
shown herself unable to distinguish between
the two makes except by the wrappers she
gave In gracefully.
There can be no possible excuse for using
foreign made SOAPS on the ground of quality
and when it comes TO price the Omaha fac
tories are meeting competition In that respect
also.
Omaha housekecpers could il they only
thought SO use Omaha made soaps exclusive
ly without any disadvantage to themselves,
AT the present time the Omaha factories
used In this city. II the people Of
the city would patronize this
branch OF home industry as they should there
would be room for four factories here or the
two now here could more than double their
capacity and instead of supporting directly
ninety-hve people there would be 200 people
drawing living from them Besides that
the increasing OF the soap factories would re-
quire an increase in other plants. They
would require twice as many boxes and the
box factories would have to put on extra
men; they would require more printing and
some JOB Office would require an extra man
or two and so through the whole list OF the
manufactures which would be required.
So far rs | have Investigated local man
ufacturing interests | have found nothing for
which there is so little excuse as the failure
oil the people OF Omaha to give all their pat
ronaRe to thoir home soap factories. While
there are many. consumers. VINO are preju::
diced in favor OF some foreign made brand
there are thousands of nouseSeepers who nave
no preference and who merely order
their grocer to send them upa certain num-
ber OF bars without specifying the brand.
, In cases like this the grocer who will send
anything but the nome made article is acting
the part OF traitor to the best interests of
his city. IL may be added still further that
the majority OF the people who are welded
TO some eastern made brand would never
have heard OF that particular make had it
not been for their grocer who educated them
INTO believing that il was the best.
Unfortunately there is no way OF getting
hold OF such grocers excepting by some such
means as manufacturers association.
CARRIAGE FACTORIES.
Omaha Is located a long way from the
forests where nard wood timber is grown
and from the steel and iron mills but the
rough material which enters into the manu-
facture of wagons and carriages is easily
transported aud then too tho ma
terial entering into wagon MAX
Ing is small IN COMPARISON
to the labor item. Wagon building Is largely
matter of skilled labor and that can be had
In Omaha in any amount wantod.
Omaha has several factories that are turn
Ing out work that can compare with the best
make OF any other city, but they are not re-
ceiying fraction OF the support which
Omaha might give them. Some of the
Oldest and wealthiest families in the city
use nothing but home made carriages but
there are too many who take a run east when
they want something in that line. III they
went to the Omaha repositories which sell
eastern made goods, no one would complain
rs these repositories are all doing something
for the city, but they even neglect them. or
course they buy the samo makes east as the
dealers here sell and they usually pay more
for them.
There aro five firms in Omaha that make
carriages, A, j. Simpson, w, T. Drummond n