The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-01
THE BORDENs OF FALL RIVER.
BUSINESS MANN THE FAMILY WHO
BUTT Up A GREAT INDUSTRY.
Mathew Borden. Present HeHd-W hat
He Has Done for the Industries al
New England and How His Mill
ions Are Employed.


New YORK Nov. &.-The Borden trag-
civ and the celebrated trial which al
r-acted the attention OF the whole world
TO a member Of tine family who was
charged with the crime. gave unpltds-
ant prominence to an honorable name
Before the public had forgotten this case
= second tragedy occurred in the New
york household of a member OF the bor-
d,u family. The bell at the area gate, or
servants entrance. rung, the negro but
Ter answered it; the door was opened
shot was fired. and the assailant vanish
ed. vyhiIe the butler fell dead. The muir
derer has never been apprehended, ana
q second mystery was added to the family
history.
The Bcrdens of Fan River have long
been noted rs leaders In the great indus
tries Of New England. Fall River has
long been the ce-s~y Of the cotton cloth
manufacturing interests Of the United
States. Probably SN,ooo0J0 is invested In
this industry fin that city. and at least
half of it is controlled hy the Bordens.
The first John Borden was one of the
oricinaI settlers I'm the community when
made homes in the seventeenth century
along the banks of the Quequechan (FaD
river: and from him all those who have
lived and died. worked and prospeFea'
in that neiehborhood for more than two
hundred years were descended II mas
therefore come about that all OF the bof-
dens in FAN River are related, but the
tie Of blood is not cherished as closely IN
New England as say. in Virginia, - w
Borden tragedy few years ago Wa 10, lUe
felt TO touch very closely the otner BOZ
den homes in the city.
In 1913 was Incorporated the, mrs. Coiu-
rot a HHHHN
day there are forty-two suCh corpora
tons operating 100000 spindles anu W.
000 loOms-that is, something AhG ON
nth of all the spindles M me Inllsu
States. The largest plant, IN ran e I'lNeIs
the largest cotton cloth plant IN fact IN
the United States. is the property OF a
Mr. Matthew G.. d. Borden, a naliVe OF
that city. as his ancestors nave b6eI IoI
many generations. ms gentleman,
though he does not now make ms nome
in Fall River is considered the HfsL man
of the place I'm wealth ana ihuueIlce. TIE
father. Col Richard Borden, LOT some
thing like half a century, during an til5
formative period in Fan River occupied
a similar position. The ran RIVER iron
Company was started as a private enter
prise by Col Richard Borden with capl-
tai Of $4,000. What the capital IS TO-DAY
no man can tell save Mr.. NJ. q. II. bot-
den, who owns IS per cent OF the STOCK.
But the property owned by the corpora
ton probably amounts to as many mill
ions as there were thousands put into the
enterprise seventy-fOur years ago.
make hoop iron and nails, and by le45
there was a large rolling mill plant, IN
that year the works We're destroyed Dy
ere as they We're again in 1899, put lhe
indomitable spirit of Col. Borden conquer
ed adversely, and on each occasion tne
mills were rebuilt But early IN the MS
tory OF the company the incorporators
BEGAN TO take advantage OF the powers
granted to them by the legislature IN 1913
The Company became an owner in the
Watuppa Reservoir Company, in the Troy
Cotton and Wooden Mandatory, in the
Fall River Mandatory, in the AnnaWan
Mill, IN the American Print works, IN
the Metacomet Mil, in the Fan River
Railroad in the Bay State Steamboat
Line in the Fall River Gas WORKS. ana
50 on and so on.
gan in Fall River there was for many
years considerable embarrassment in
transportation facilities, and it was diff
cult and expensive to get the raw materi-
ais, as well as to send to market the nm
ished products. In the coloniaf era one
three-masted vessel which had been en-
gagged in foreign trade together with a rev
small sloops sailed between Fall River
and Newport and Bristol. There was no
regular craft going TO Providence until
long after the war of independence. After
the establishment Of the cotton mills
small schooner with capacity Of ten
bales Of cotton began to run regularly
TO Providence. Other small schoon-
ers were added from tome to
time until 1927, when the steamer
Hancock was put on by Col. BOrden's
time to time by the company, but even
these did not satisfy the demands Of the
place as Col Borden saw them. lie want
ed Fall River to be the chief point in
line between New York and Boston. He
built several lines Of railway so as to
tap existing lines. but these did not an
swer his purposes. So ne organized the
Cape Cod Railroad Company, and built
a road from MARLBOROUGH down TO the
Cape as a feeder TO his FAN River route.
Meantime to connect his railroad that
ran Boston-ward with New York, he built,
in partnership with his brother, jefferson
Borden, the Bay State very fine steam
boat for those days, to run between New
York and Fail River. The next year he
added the Empire State. and then the Me-
tropOlis and the well known Fail River
line Of steamers was established. 1t is re-
lated that the earnings of the Bay State
were 6 per cent a month, and that the
other two boats We're entirely paid for
out of the profits of the line.
His sons took up the work where he left
1t, and they have proved to be capable
men. But one Of his sons, the youngest,
Matthew G. d. Borden, has inherited in
even a greater degree his fathers remark
able capacity for affairs, and il is said
by those who remember the cOlonels fac
ulty of throwing OFF the cares which OPP
press ordinary men, that the son very
greatly resembles the father
NJ c. d. Borden received his scholastic
education at Yale, and was the 'Wooden
spoon of his year Every collegian knows
what this distinction means. From col
lege he went into the counting rooms, in
the selling agents of the American Print
ing Works, one of the properties of the
Iron Works Company. Then, when the
agency was changed he went with
Wright, Bliss & Fabyan, tina predeces-
sors of the well known firm of Bliss, Fa-
byan & Company of to-day Shortly af-
ter his fathers death he bought out the
other interests in the American Print
Works Company, and gradually absorbed
the shares of the Iron Works Company
At this time the Iron Works Company did
not make cotton cloths, but merely print
ed them. Mr.. Borden did not think the
other manufacturers treated him fairly
50 in 1889 he built a great mill, and made
the cloth which he afterward dyed in
1892 he built a second mill; in 1898 a third
and only the other day the fourth mill
larger and more complete than any of the
Others. was finished
Three thousand five hundred hands are
employed and 1000 bales Of cotton used
IN q week and in that time 90 900 pieces
Of cotton cloth are turned out
Last spring, when wages We're very Low
and cloud of depression hung over FaI
River, Mr.. Borden ordered that the wages
in his mills should be increased. The
other mills had TO follow his example
and the relief was immediate He die
not increase the wages as a philanthronfst
but as a business man who saw that tht
business narlraazfgn