Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-02-04
WHAT 1T MEANS.
p9opoSyD FLINT GLASS COMBINE AND
ITS EFFECTS
r,-s,l.l,.;on Aims at Long Economic Strides,
~ M, r,-f-ss! With the Old Methods.
Where Reductions Come IN.

81
' 80 As TO what the session evolved,
-. ,ssre has been considerable discus
90. among citizens generally Ss to the
inability Of the consolidation.
There i, little doubt but that the
..-b.ra movement was inaugurated as
1-,rsst 10 the United States Glass Com
~ This Company has been meeting
t..r marked success, and under a still
svstematized regimen in the near
,...-s will likely be still more prosper
. The other factories, in order TO
80 with the trust and to be in the
..--,-sstable swim" so TO speak, has
.rHa spirit move 20 do likewise.
A Gentleman OF this city well versed
t- -ra mysteries OF the glass business,
80 seen Yesterday by a REGISTER re-
,5--sr THE beneficial effects Of the
Consolidation are easy to be SEEM" said
Ea "ln the first place, one OF the heayi-
ss-aypensgs connected with a glass fac
49, il the mould shop. We have some
s,,.ranrly equipped mould shops here
s- Wheeling, and / expect such a one
o. -hgt connected with the Central
Works costs from S., 900 to S., 900 a year
81, run. There was time, and
NOT so very many years
eco. when patterns used 10 run over q
ys7r. that is, the same patterns were
tsr- on the market for from two to
,--ss wears. But a more progressive
movement now prevails, and every year
a sgH new line Of molds are made, nee
e,sftariug a heavy expense, and sort
of "a speculative outlay as well. The
Individual factories, prior to the COM
r.ne. have of course all been Originat-
fr- and constructing new and ingenious
designs, and all in certain spirit Of
rivalry. Now, here was where a great
risk came I'm. There were seventeen
glass factories, and each factory stood
one chance in seventeen OF placing the
most popular and saleable goods on the
market. The factory lucky enough 10
strike the favor Of the market
naturally had big run, and
ln measure, so did the
factories that came second in the pOpu-
lsrity of the designs, and also the third,
and perhaps the fourth. But beyond
these four factories the chances were
that the other factories would not sell
enough OF their designs 70 pay for the
u0Ids 10 was almost like going into
o-,ery. You can see that the moIding
IS one OF the heaviest expenses. Now
under the combine the factories can
concentrate into Que mold shop IL they
so desire, or be limited to two or three,
and all the factories manufacture wares
from the same mOids, thereby greatly
reducing the expense Of running all the
individual mold shops. IL is likely that
the combine will get out fewer new de-
signs each year, and big saving will
result.
In what other ways will the eX-
penses be reduced?" asked the reporter.
well, right here, said the gentle
man. zone effect OF the combine is
that 10 leaves the customary buyers
ticRlly no alternative as from whom
they will buy, as the aggregate terri
tory covered by all the individual factO-
ries is filled in by the combine, and the
prices are irOn-clad. This naturally
will reduce the number of travelling
men, and fewer trips will he made.
Now, the salaries OF the commercial
glass travellers run from 81, 500 up TO
S., 500, and the expenses are not gener-
ally less than s. a day. and frequently
$40 a day. With an average of about
two runners TO each factory, II will be
seen that the thirty-four travelling men
run into a dig pile"
Then for all factories not in the
combine there are agencies in Philadel-
phia. New York, Boston, Baltimore and
other places. Each individual factory
has an agency, including rent Of room
and salary of the agent, and as every
agent gets not only per cent. on all or.
ders sent ia by him, but also the same
percentage on all goods sent 70 the city
where the agent is located, whether the
orders come direct from him or not.
As vet the factories have had no agency
10 Chicago, owing in part 70 some col
Fde with the retailers out there.
Under the combine there will be 10
need Of so many different offices In
each large city, as they can all
be concentrated I'm one Office, requiring
butope agency in each city. And then the
Office force under the combine would be
reduced, doing away with oOokkeepers
and accountants and limiting the force
70 the manager and one or two shippers.
All this makes considerable OF a saw
ing"
Another gentleman was Of the opinion
that an individual factory, unencum-
bered and economically run, could De
made 70 pay. He said he heard some
talk Of a large concern being established
here quite a while ago, but 10 never ma
terialized. One advantage Of the single
handed factory would be that whereas
all the factories in the combine are Oound
by Ironclad prices the individual factory
could drop little % accommodate an
big order. The $500 a set
goods could be sold for $500, and again
The factory outside the combine would
have the advantage Of springing new
and unconventional designs on the
market. and so far as buying S0daaSh is
believe factories outside OF
the combine can secure II just as cheap
" as the combine. Those Engllshmen
from whom the sOdaash is purchased are
pretty independent and unwayering'
and large orders don't count much with
them. However, while l believe the
new combine will be a good thing there
will have TO be considerable quiet leglS-
latiou vet before 10 Is effected.
The glass aud crOckery Joooers met
IN convention az tho Monongahela
House. In Pittsburg, yesterday. Secre-
tary II. y. McGregor, Of this city was
present. A number OF jobbers from al
parts OF the country wree pres
ent A caucus was held TUESDAY
afternoon, but not much was developed.
The jobbers, for some reason, are very
reticept about their business. Inc
glass agents have been trying to pump
them with very little success. One OF
80. ohf,o+s ia m establish 8 rate on