The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-14

Not long ago a New England visitor to st.
Paul expressed surprise that the Twin Cities
were so conspicuously deficient in the manu-
facture of wooden goods.
Here you are" he said, Constituting the
center Of a great population, demanding by
reason of your climate a vast supply Of
wooden products, with the raw materials at
your very doors, and yet you permit this
raw material to be carried to the Atlantic
seaboard to be there woven and returned to
you In the form of textiles or ready-made
clothing. when, by the development of
tive enterprise, you might become the great
est manufacturing center of wooden goods on
the continent"
There is. at the present time, a wooden
mill in successful operation at Minneapolis,
and its close relationship with a prominent
New York house is well understood. But
there is abundant room for other kindred
establishments in this locality; and the won
der is that the public spirited citizens of st.
Paul have not Joined in an effort to secure
the location Of similar industry here A
well-known capitalist said yesterday that the
neld was an open one at this time, with lands,
suitable for the location of such industries,
in abundance, close to the side of the river
anywhere between the two cities and at very
little cost.
Now, there are a good many things of more
OF less Importance that the people Of St. Paul
know all about but there are some things of
great deal of Importance that they know
nothing about, because the facts have
never been drawn to their attention The
sheep Is very unassuming unpretentious
animal, and during his terrestrial passage he
makes his useful contributions to mankind
IN silence. and 1t is not until he has de-
parted this life that his real value is deter
mined. 1t will seem almost incredible to
many that the wool clip of the sheep at
south ST Paul alone this spring approached
9VO,NO lbs. The entire number Of sheen fed
at that place during the past season was
ABOUT 100000. Many of these were shipped
Hr"ara TO the Chicago market during the
winter months and before the clipping period
arrived DuI mad these all been sheared here
they would have produced an average of
8 lbs Of wool per head, or at least 2N, OOo
IDS. 1t Is understood that about 200 600 lbs
were taken at the New Brighton wards Co
much for the single locality Of the Twin
Cities. '-
But the further fact remains to be chron
ieIed that 100000 pounds of wool have &C.
cording to railroad statistics passed through
81 Faul curing the past twelve months bound
IOr the factories in the East, while perheps
"o'VoVooo pounds additional made the vow
age OF the lakes from Duluth to Buffalo dur
ing the period OF navigation, thus bringing
the aggregate to 75,000,0 900 pounds of wool
crossing the state of Minnesota along the
channels Of transportation, within a single
year. and passing far beyond the borders OF
Ghe state for manufacture into fabrics else
where
1t is always difficult to shift long-settled
industries from one locality to another Ros-
ton and Philadelphia are the great wool mar
kets or the seaboard states, and they are con-
uguous to or parts Of the centers of manu-
Iacture- This has been due largely to the
fact that the knitting industries began there
and became established. They supply a vast
population; but in the United States. owing
to its great area from East to West, they
cannot always maintain the relationship to
this country which Birmingham and Man.
chester hold to the British Isles. Tins far
they have maintained their sway because
OF the ever-expanding facilities afforded by
railway transportation. But they are even
now becoming more and more remote from
the center of population, which year by wear
IS advancing West, toward the Mississippi
river. At present that line may fairly be
drawn on the meridian which embraces In
diana. Soon there must be a new forma-
ton Of industrial lines, and the Mississippi
river is the most natural boundary. The
Twin Cities OF St. Paul and Minneapolis are
at the head Of that boundary line: and with
the showing above presented 1t Is clearly to
the interest OF these communities to prepare
ior the acceptance of larger natural growth
In the direction OF manufacture and espe-
clally with respect to wooden products
Thls vast volume of wool clip is It Is said
controlled wholly by Eastern capitalists. who
make the price to suit themselves, simply
because they have no intermediate competi-
ton. The establishment of plants capable of
large consumption of raw material and the
production of high-class goods involves the
investment OF considerable sums of money.
But the successful operation of such far
tories in the East is a recognized fact Vet
large supply of the raw material ia carried
from Washington, Oregon, Montana. North
Dakota and California to the Atlantic sea-
board, when 1t could as WELL and with equal
II not greater profit, be manufactured into
textiles on the borders of the Mississipni.
It is estimated that of the unsecured wool as
shipped eastward from the points named
40 per cent constitutes waste in the form or
dirt and greese. The transportation charges
on wool, say from Montana to Boston. is 11ho
per bound. For this waste the consumes
must pay, together with the freight on the
manufactured article returned to the jobbers
and clothing dealers of ST. Paul and other
Northwestern and Western points
The present Is a time when the people Of
St, Paul are looking around with view tn
inviting the establishment of new industries
in their midst. Nobody can doubt that soma
day the stretch Of river between this civ
and the Falls Of st. Anthony will be largely
occupied by industrial plants for the sun
ply of the great Northwest, of which the
two cities. later perhaps to become united IN
one municipality, shall be the recognized
metropolis. If the true spirit of enterprise.
free OF local Jealousy could be aroused in
these two young, interesting and RAPIDLY de-
Vefoping communities it would seem that in
telligent inquiry into the subject of making
available the great wool clip of the Northwest
In connection with manufactures at this point
might probably be undertaken