The Portland daily press., 1896-03-27
STICKY FLY PAPER.
Most of the Worlds Supply Manufactured
in Secret in Michigan Town.

The worlds supply of sticky fly paper
comes from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
There are three or four other small fac
tories scattered about the country, but
none of them makes enough to cut much
of figure in the market. The great pro-
ducer is the single factory in Grand Rap
ids.a big concern employing 400 to 800
hands all the year round, and its produce
is shipped to every land.
The factory is surrounded by high
board picket fence, and guards are on
watch day and night to keep out intrud-
ers. The best friends of the proprietors
meet with as cold reception, when the
matter of going into the factory is men
toned, as any stranger. The ticky prep
aration with which it ia expected the
flies will form entangling alliances is
prepared by the proprietors personally,
and they alone know the exact formula.
The preparation is not patented nor
copyrighted. as to gain the protection of
the government it would be necessary to
revoal the materials that 60 into it and
thus make the formula known to the
world and give trade pirates chance to
operate. The secret is protected by not
letting it out, and it has been kept sue
oessfully for nearly twenty years. The
machinery used in the factory is guarded
IN the same manner against infringe
ment instead OF being patented. Most OF
the machinery WAS designed for the
special purpose to which it is put, and
the four brothers engaged in the business
made the designs for it themselves and
had different parts of it constructed at
different machine shops. The fly paper
factory occupies four large two-stoly
brick buildings, and the employees in
one department. are not allowed under
any circumstances to visit any other de
partment None but trustworthy men
ars employed, and once engaged they
have substantially a life job; but even
the most trusted is not allowed to know
more than one branch of the business.
The fly paper is made by spreading GER
sized manila paper. The sheet has a
narrow border of wax to prevent she
sticky stuff from oozing out. The er
of wax is put on, the sticky preps; N
is spread, and the sheet is folded reaA .or
inspection and shipment by one ma
chine, and this machine has q capacity
OF about so, 600 sheets a day. From the
machine the sheets pass to inspectors,
who see that the stuff Is of the right CON
sistency, and then to the packers, to be
put into boxes for shipment. The paper
goes to Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia,
and South America. besides all parts of
this country
The manufacturers Of the sticky paper
began business about twenty years ago
on small scale, occupying lean-to in
connection with suburban drug store
which the brothers had established as q
branch of their city business. One of the
brothers carried on the fly paper manu-
featuring as side issue, and at first on
~ enough was manufactured to supply
O. limited local demand The demand
gradually grew, and the factory is now
one of the big institutions OF Grand Rap
ids, and the four brothers all devote to it
their entire time.
Some time ago the brothers had COCA
son to discharge one of their employees,
q man who had been with them several
years and had unusual facilities for
learning the inside of how everything
was DONE 1t WAS suspected that it was
his intention to sell the secrets of the
manufacture of fly paper, or such of them
as he possessed, to a rival manufacturer
doing business ON small scale in anoth-
er town. The brothers imm ediately
brought suit against him by injunction
10 restrain him from telling what he
knew, and from himself engaging in the
business. The suit has not yet been de-
cided. 1t involves a question of law new
er yet adjudicated in this State, and one
that'is specially interesting to manufac-
tuners and attorneys.