The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-11

DoLoEvILhE, Sept. 10.-The big felt mills in
this village formerly owned and operated by
Alfred Dodge h Son reopened this week, after
1--WE months idleness, under new MANAGEMENT.
Under the new ownership the pront-shnring
theories advanced by Alfred Dodge and put in
operation In his works. together with his nine
and one-half hours workday. have all been
discarded, and the workmen have received mo-
tlce that hereafter the works will be conducted
on everyday business principles.
Edward Burns OF the American Exchange
National Bank Of New York purchased recently
all the real and personal property contained In
the felt plant in the interest OF a syndicate
comprising some of the large creditors Of the
firm Of Alfred Dodge & Son. A company is
now In process OF organization that will not
only operate the felt mills. but also the mills of
the Daniel Green Felt Shoe Company, and the
two principal Industries OF the village will be-
placed under one management and one bust
ness head. 1t was generally supposed that Al
fred Dodge would DO the business head OF the
corporation. but this place is already filed by
Schuyler r. Ingham Of Little Falls.
The, rise and fall OF the commercial house Of
fred Dodge expended all OF his energies, oil of
his capital, and all the money that d giit-edEe
OF building a city on the foothills OF the Adj
rondaeks populated solely by wage %earners. In
2 me S Ssnr Sn Re sue sH,sese e led, From q hamlet Of
of over 5000 Inhabitants. For years he has
been tnsolvent, but this did not deter him In
his efforts. and up to the hour OF his failure the
work Of improving the town was continued.
The, village has a splendid system OF water;
works SGnISSs and GewSrs vide bS s,s ssfests, avenues SItS and
nincent school buildings.
For years Alfred Dodge was the supreme
the village and the Board Of Trustees was con-
trolled, by him. He bought farm after farm
around the village and gave notes in payment.
Then he laid out new streets over the prop
erty, and the streets were accepted BY the VII
lage. He proposed watetworks, and the vii
built his new streets were .piped, lie was the
President nf the Board OF Education and con
6 fT1ltsd n tMS 9Sher m snl|SInes 81 mn the ai beard ? vac To
bonded, He controlled all The manufacturing
industries in the village and bull, a railroad to
dollars. Bonds constructed this road. He
formed the Dolgeyille Electric LIGHT and
p IiIISe SS Con q ny and m made nfGa,i 2 SS9 5n t 1Sn With the
for the village streets.
All Of tho improvements in the village
innate s., 0O0.OOO.. The village bonds. corpora
tlGn eo RaIi and mili fShool E gSnds T SDIls sgg 91 ERIs am N.
debtedness is held by capitalists, outside OF the
village, and the most q Il e held by banks scat
Of the Arm n" and Of Alfred Doise pe er n iSs are
represented IL Dolgeville real estate,
IN dQOlLlOD 10 Jne mOneysDOrrOWGu by DOlR0
for the purpose OF building up the village, and
dreds Of thousands OF dollars Of foreign capt.
ingmen's, homes. Dodge, who owned ali the
available building lots IN the village, always en-
couraged his workmen in building and owninR
their homes. Dodge would sell q lot TO his
workman, on the basis Of a small weekly pay
ment, and the amount was sometimes deduct
through his influence with New York capital
lists. the money would be obtained TO build the
e e4Ssss %ed la a %bertS ysTd st connec RSIsS wi RRd 6 Sn
plant and he would furnish the lumber.
Nearly all the workingmen's homes in the vii
lage have been erected in this manner. aud the
majority have, them only paid for in part.
building and loan associations also
real estate. The very foundation of the village
Is built on mortgages. bonds. notes and prom
Uses,
The pront-sharing theories of Alfred Dodge
were also largely represented In promises. The
actual practical benefits to the ,workmen OF
sharing embraced three theories: l, insur-
ance: :. pension; :. endowment. The llrst. in
s]uranees was good while it lasted, This plan
provided that after five years continuous SER
vice the, operative should receive an insur-
anee policy for $1,000; at the end OF another
Mr.. Dodge paid the premiums on the policy.
About seventy-nye policies were in operation
Tension she I4 prov I'd ehe thai 5atiV When a am o ssS9hn epibaand
become old, and feeble and no Longer able to
work. he should be retired on a pension. of
roll at the time OF the failure. The third plan
the endowment theory. This pro-
yided that II any OF the operatives made an
Improvement to. the machinery SO that the
operative should have credit for a certain per
cent. of the increased profit. The endowment
account was payable when the workman
the age of 30 years. or to his heirs on
his death; Many of the old operatives had sew
eral hundred dollars credit on the endowment
but now the account Is not worth the
price Of the paper it is written on. The insur-
ance and pension plan had a tendency to en-
continued service. while the third
plan had q tendency to encourage harder
work. Profit sharing has no standing with
the new owners OF the works. Three years
ago Mr.. Dodge limited the hours of labor In his
factory to nine and a half. giving ten hours
pay. This Is now off.