Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1893-09-30
UNITED INDUSTRIAL CO.
ITS PROPOSITION TO THE
PEOPLE OF ASHEVIL-I.H.
If Accepted the City would Have
to Make a Heavy Expenditure
and Give UP the Present water
XOrkR 6ItO.

H accepted a tne S1sY wOulu baSS
to Make a Heavy Expenditure
and Give UP the present water
Works site.
Following is the proposition of the
United Industrial Co, as made to the
Board of Aldermen at yesterdays meet
ing:
To the Hon. the Mayor and Aldermen of
the City of AsheviLe:-
l have the honor to submit to your
honorable Board, a communication from
The United Industrial company, Il cor
poration organized for manufacturing
purposes under the laws of New York.
AS representative Of this co npany
spent large portion of the past three
months investigating the advantages of
various localities in the South with
view to establishing the manufacture of
knit goods of every description, wool.
wool and cotton mixed, and cotton.
The centre of this industry is now in the
Mohawk Valley, in New York State, and
with it a basis, the cities of Troy, Co
hoes and Amsterdam have made wonder
full progress in population and wealth.
The organizers of this company are of
the highest character and financial abil-
ity.
After careful study of the subject we
advantages over New York or any other
Northern and Western State in the man
ufacture of textile fabrics. Your climate
is as a rule better adapted to the carding
and spinning cotton and wool, your la
Dor is cheaper. not for the present alone,
but permanently, because it costs less to
live in the South your cotton may be
grown almost at the factory door; your
water powers are large and unincumbed
hx,ir md lar tS her fnr
fuel, while at the same time fuel itself is
cheap. These are your prominent advan-
tages. The disadvantages are great but
on1 temporary. They are poor trans
poi -ation facilities, high freight rates,
and unskilled labor, SO that no matter
what faith men may have in the ultimate
prosperity of the South, these disadvan-
tages are great and may we'll cause capi-
tai to hesitate.
To overcome these difficulties nearly
every place have visited throughout the
South has made this company most gem
erous offers, thus sharing the burden
until the new industry should be fairly
on it's feet.
The purpose of the United Industrial
company is to establish a knit goods
centre. 1t will not be confined to one
factory but shall erect one after another
until by it's machinery every class of knit
goods can be made, giving employ
meut to at least five thousand help. rep
resenting u community of fifteen thou
sand people With this object in view l
have looked for a location which would
combine the following requisites:
First, A suitab water power to fur
| nish power to the entire plant.
Second. Proximity to the cotton belt.
Third. Dry and healthfull climate.
Fourth, Proximity to railroads.
| Fifth, An intelligent population from
which to supply skilled help.
| Not even Asheville combines all these
features. The water power is not as
large as could be wished, freight rates
| are high. and the cotton belt is distant,
| but, on the other hand, you have n per-
feet climate, and a people known the
country over as most intelligent and en-
| terprising. Your city will be attractive
/ to Northern help above any other i'll the
South. We have made a survey of the
Swannanoa, and Mr.. Byron Holley, the
best known hydraulic engineer in the
country, has made hislreport to the effect
that at point short distance above
Gudgers' bridge, we can erect dam.
eighty five feet high which will give us
about fifteen hundred horse po wcr. This
dam would consist of crib work and ma
| sonry and would cost nearly one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. 1t would be
built on solid rock, bet ween rock cliffs, and
our engineer claims that if properly con.
structed. it would be as strong as the
hills themselves. Our purpose would be
to erect factory at once to employ
some two hundred persons and to follow
this with others as rapidly as help car
be educated. We would erect handsome
cottages for the help who wish to liv,
near the factories, and would build {
school house, and supply teacher fol
children of the employees. We would us,
every effort to connect with your city 10y
electric road, SO that our help NAV hav,
access to your stores and male pur
chases to their taste, for the employees il
this industry are the best paid and mos
intelligent of work people, and in th
North they are justly noted for charac
ter and good taste, earning such gooC
wages they are able to live as men anC
women should live. We, of course, shal
follow the policy Of Northern manufac
turers and make no attempt to take any
part in the trade and merchandising o
our help. They shall go where they fine
the choicest lines and the best bargains
The policy of setting up stores at whicl
the help are expected to merchandise i
demoralizing and the best class of hell
will not endure it. This company will
therefore do all it can to give the hell
the utmost freedom in all matters out
side the factory. In harmony with thi
policy we shall not compel help to live ii
houses owned by US, but shall aid then
In all ways to build for themselves cot
tages of artistic designs. In no even
shall we permit shantics to be erected
such as are only too Common aroun
the cotton mills of the South.
: Such in outline is our purpose aud w
have ample means to accomplish it, bu
there are two difficulties:
First. The possibility of polluting til
water supply of your city; and
Second. The necessity, owing TO you
r inferior water power, of putting into
dam at oEce so large a sum OF none
without return until we have erecte
enough factories to utilize the cnti1
power, which would require at least iiv
years.
Other southern cities have made mos
liberal offers all the way ON 500
cash to a water power already dcvelope
worth $50, 900. All we ask of Ashevil
is to remove the above difficulties, an
to that end, we propose as follows:
The proposition.
The city shall continue its wat,
mains to our dam, connect the wat,
pumps thereto in running order, tuI
over to us the present water pow,
plant exclusive of the pumps, and "
will furnish the city wafer Just at VIII,
it has cost heretofore.
W La