The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-14

rial science the name stood for progress
in one OF the growing theories Of the
day. The village and its industries rep
resented social reform of a practical
type which it's founder had evolved from
experience as a workman and from a
colse study of the writings of those who
today, in this country and elsewhere. are
earnestly trying to solve what is COM
monty known as the labor problem
History has been made in Dolgeville,
and to the end that there may be a
proper. understanding of what has hap
pened there a brief review of the his
tory of the place is interesting. Alfred
Dodge. a trained mechanic, who had
come to this country to improve his
fortunes visited the locality in search of
lumber in 1874. He was then conducting
a felt factory in Brooklyn, and was a
dealer in piano materials. He saw the
possibilities of the water power in the
Auskerada river, and decided to locate
In the little hamlet which clustered about
the place.
STUDENT AND WORKMAN.
Dodge was student as welt<as a work
man, and had ambitions to found a col
ony where he could work out the theories
with which his mind was filed. Only
yesterday, when taking a last look at
the scenes of his labors, he condensed
the story in this brief sentence: My
dream was to build up a village-yea. a
clty-which should stand out as wor-
thy product of American civilization and
progress, industrially, socially. intellec-
tulaly, artistically and in a humanitarian
sense.
From a small beginning Do'ge by his
own energy, and working along the
lines which he thus indicated, gradually
developed at Dolgeville, as the place can
now be called, an industrial condition
that attracted the attention of the
world. From the small beginning in one
old building his plant grew to huge
stone structures, employing hundreds of
skilled workmen.
Eighty per cent of the piano felts used
in the world were made in his factories.
Upwards of twenty-six hundred souls
formed the population of the place. In
the year 1898, when the PR sperty of
Dolgeville was at it's height the net
profits of the enterprises there carried
on amounted to an average of $685. O1
yearly, and the original little investment
of $4,000 had increased to an inventoried
capitalization of nearly 100000.
All the parts of piano were made,
and well made, in the foctories o. the
place. Felt, wire, woodwork, ca t,nes,
everything connected with the business
of the village was produced by skilled
and we'll paid workmen. In one short
year these varied and productive Indus
tries have practically been destroyed,
and the population has been duced to
but little more than half its former pro-
portions.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCHEME. i
In the development of his ente prises
Dodge harnessed the turbulent river, and
made its. waterfalls the sources of almost
Unlimited power. He was fond Ct say
ling that Dolgeville was the second place
In the United States to adopt eectric
lighting, and that there were no better
roads anywhere in the country than
there. He developed a sanitary system
that worked perfectly, laid out attractive
streets, planted trees, built comforta BILE
houses for the workmen. gave them a
public hall and a modern school sys-
tenn. including a kindergarten; erected
a free library, laid out parks, started
newspaper to advertise the su ce:s of
the village. and in hundreds Of other
ways strove to erect a model colony
DolgeVille became noted, and men ia
nous in the world as leaders in so ial
science rade the place an object lesson,
in their lectures and their books. 1t was
the boast of the place that no such thing