The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-01
BY NJ. =. FOSTER


|. doesn't take million dollars 10 start
factory in Housson.
There are several valuable enterprises
in this city that were begun on capital
OF less than a thousand dollars.
And yet one decided disadvantage in Sc
curing the interest of home capitalists in
industrial undertakings is the general inn
preston that an immense amount OF money
must be risked. The word factyy seems
to call to their minds picture OF immense
plants, with thousands and thousands Of
dollars invested therein. sad they instantly
declare this picture too visionary for their
wealth to be drawn into Il, or deem it
something that only a large corporation
should dare undertake.
Did you ever stop TO think that half a
million dollars invested in Houston cou.t
put in operation fifty factories? Not one
Of the fifty need take over $4,000 capital.
There are several lines of goods that could
be manufactured in Houston with an in
vestment OF $4,000 in each plant.
IT is true that there are manufacturing
plants which ought to be added to Hous-
ton at cost of not less than 100000, but
it will be impossible at first to interest
either home or outside capital in these
small factories at work II we make a
success of dozen small plants 1t will be
easy enough then to convince the men
with money that Houston is the proper
place for investing their idle wealth.
~
An axe handle isn't very big thing.
but it is one of the most useful and most
necessary articles that the country mer-
chant places before his customers.
Axe handles are something like pins--it
is hard to discover where they all go to-
why the demand never decreases, but con-
stantly increases,
Did you know that Houston merchants
sold 5000 dozen axe handles year? Sixty
thousand handles leave Houston every
twelve months. or an average of 1854
handles day.
1t can probably be assumed that Hous-
ton supplies the State with about one
tenth of the handles sold in Texas. The
New Orleans. st. Louis, Chicago. or from
some of the other wholesale ceaters OF
this State. That being the case. il is a
conservative estimate to place the sale of
handles in Texas at so 900 dozen per an
mum. The total then is only 500 600. or
gust one axe handle a year for every five
persons in the State.
Considering the population of the State
tnen that ism I such an enormous quantity
after all Perhaps it would be nearer the
correct figures 10 double the $4,000 dozen,
but we will LET 1t stay as it is.
To pay for these $4,000 dozen axe handles
Texas sends out of the State fully $50. 900
annually.
The Houston wholesalers alone nav $4,000
year for axe handles.
There isn't a factory in the State for
making these handles. They are brought
here mainly from Indiana, Illinois and
Ohio though in recent years Arkansas and
Alabama have furnished part Of the sup
ply
Doesn't 1t really seem an absurdity that
we should send so far away for a little
piece Of wood that has merely been curved
and carved? Here are people living on
the outskirts of forests filled with material
for these handles, and yet we prefer to
send thousands of miles for the same wood
that has merely been put through few
pieces OF machinery. The simplest and
crudest kind OF factory work
Not an axe handle factory in the whole
state OF Texas State in which the
hickory the pecan and the ash are found
nearly everywhere, and still we persist in
paying the freight and sending our MONEY
TO the manufacturers OF fndtsrna and MI
nois for wood not half as good No Won
DER many of the Fasteners still think
the Texas people are living in a wild and
unclvilized country. When an Indiana
manufacturer gets an order for a carload
OF axe handles to go to Texas he must