St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-18
FORCING AHEAD.
The Leading Dry Goods Deal
ers and MillinerS Of st.
Paul.
Graphic Sketch Of the Rapid
Growth in This Line
Of Trade.
magnificent Fortunes Made
by Leaders IN the Bust
ness.
Establishments Which Can
Equal Others Throughout
the Union.
No Need for Capital City Citi-
z6nS 10 Purchase Goods
Abroad.
Best and Cheapest of Mate
rials Sold at Their Very
Doors.

From the little leg stcre on the cor
ner of Jackson and Bench streets, i'll
1852. where few ribbons and calicOeS
were sold.up 10 the great fve-story build
ing of Finch. Van Slyck. Young u Co.,
on the corner OF Fourth and Sibley
streets, there IS great jump. butt is Il
jump OF fact. not Of fancy-all accom-
pliShed III less than forty years. In 1858,
M Curran occupied what was then
known Is the "WOrld's Fair Dry Goods
Store. in 4 two-St0Ty wooden building.
on the corner OF Third and Robert
streets. In those days it was consid-
cred huge" Later came along Abram
Elicit and Catncart Il Co., aud CuIraE
was eclipsed; and then came
Blum. Heenan, Justice, and then
D. ". IngerS0ll. Cathcart struggled for
supremacy. but Ingcrsoil X Co. held the
field. ana are now, under The name of
Field, Mahler Il Gothic oldest dry goods
house in the city-a compliment well
earned by many years of patient toll
and honorable dealing. Mr.. Elicit oc-
cupied the store known as the Napoleon
saloon. corner of EXCHANGE and Third
streets. Following these came William
Lee, and Strouse, and Mannheimer,
Lindelle, Auerbach. Finch Il Schefer,
and Powers and others. The business
of the dry goods house and miIlinerS
has continued to grow. commensurate
with the great growth of the city Itself
St Paul IS today one Of the leading
cities OF the country in the manufacture
of clothing of various grades, mems
furnishing goods. gloves. mittens, and
~ ffr4~ I-rn
hands find employment in these lines
alone in the city. and turn out annually
over S4,OO0.O00 worth OF manufactured
goods. for which they receive something
over $500, coo per year in wages. This
manufacture has been built up largely
by the wholesale houses to meet the de-
mandS Of the country aud is therefore
Oh the most solid and substantial
foundation that can be imagined.
all grades Of clothing are made
here, although tho making of the
finer kinds OF tailor-made goods has not
been given the attention it deserved
until the present year. which has wit
messed the establishment Of a large and
finely equipped factory, giving employ
ment to SEQ men already. and making
nothing but the finest grades of tailor
made clothing. The attention of the
wholesale dry goods, furnishing goods |
and fur men WAS early attracted to this |
field, and about twenty-five years ago
the manufacture OF Overalls, coarse |
shirts, and such articles was com
nenced- This was found so satisfactory
10 their customers that each wholesale |
dry goods house increased its factory
capacity from year 20 year TO meet the |
demands OF the trade. The finer grades
of shirts was added later, and the wants
OF the spOrtSmen 81 the country to the
west were not neglected. The result is
that each Of the large dry goods houses
has factory giving steady employment
to large number of hands. three of the
houses alone giving employment to over
200 hands IN their manufacturing de-
partments.
There is also another point to be con-
sidered in this question and it is the es-
tabliShing of Il market. As things
stand today tie merchant who comes to
st. Paul to purchase his stock OF goods
does not need TO c0n1ine himself 10 one
house. Take it in dry goods for ex-
ample. lie can take his choice OF a
number of houses. If he is not quite
satisfied with a certain line in one
place he can go to another. The mar
ket is here, and he knows he can find !
what lie wants. This making of mar
ket has been done in most lines in st.
Paul, but none So completely and
thoroughly as in the line OF mems fur
nishings, Overais shirts and heavy goods.
In these lines St. Paul manufacturers
have no real competitors in the great
territory reaching from the great lakes
90 the Pacific, ami are meeting their
Eastern rivals in the Southwest In
the line Of the finer grades of clothing,
jobbing houses have prepared the way
and the factories now here will soon be
III as complete possession of the North
western trade as the fur and furnishing
goods men are of theirs. They are max
ing goods peculiarly adapted TO the
needs OF the people of the Northwest,
and the trade will go to them because
shat is where it belongs.
St. Paul made clothing has reputa-
ton all over the Northwest. Lumber
men, for instance, know what they need
for the severe winters Of this section,
and they know Jhey can get Just what
they want in St. Paul, and they will
have nothing made elsewhere. The
people Of the Northwest have learned
that St. Paul makes clothing of the
same high grade and quality as she
does everything else. And, what is
more to the point, they have found that
they can purchase as cheaply in St.
Paul as thay can further East. and save
freight and be sure OF securing their
goods before the season has gone by in
which they expected to sell them.