The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-09-15
FOR A NEW FACTORY.


Proposition from Firm Which Can be
Depended on to Stay in the City and do
Big Business.
The Owosso Carriage Company has
Just completed the first year OF its cor
porate existence and feels that it has
reached point where it is too much
cramped in its present quarters. has
outgrown its baby clothes, so to speak,
and already wants bigger suit. In
other words the company wishes new
factory building in addition to the one
now in use and desires more than twice
the floor space in the new one than
there is in the old.
The proposal of the company Is that
this building be erected by the city on
site to be mutually agreed upon. the
city to hold lien upon the building for
five years and to be protected during
that period by the insurance on the
same, one-ffth of the total value being
taken from the insurance payable to the
city for each year the factory shall be
run by the company according to agree
ment. The floor space asked for is at
least 100, 900 feet.
On its part the company agrees to
thoroughly equip the building, making
it first class plant for the manufacture
of carriages and to employ force OF
not less than one hundred fifty hands.
This part of the agreement Is to be made
binding for peroid of five years. The
company further agrees to increase the
caitpal stock and size of the plant as
fast as the business warrants. The
plant now occupied would continue to
be operated but the work there would
be exclusively on cutters for which the
the building is better adapted than for
the carriage business. The floor space
of this plant is little less than $4,000
feet.
In estimating the relation between
the size of a plant and the total number
of vehicles turned out per year fifteen
feet of floor space is generally allowed
for each vehicle and the fact that the
division of the total floor space by the
number of vehicles turned out last year
in the factory gives less than twelve feet
of floor space shows what disadvantages
the company labored against
Applying the above rule to the busi-
ness the company proposes to do-an
output of 5000 vehicles is the objective
point in its plans-it will be seen that
12O, 900 feet of floor space is necessary
for the most economical carrying on of
the work. The plan of the building has
already been partially decided on and a
perspective drawing has been made by
E. w. Woodward. The building is in
the form of hollow rectangle 275x15e
feet and is to be three stories In height
besides basement.
Whether the price asked-the cost of
the building-is too high is the question
to be decided by the people and the
Owosso Welfare Association will take b
hand in investigating the matter, in
fact the association has already appoint
ed James Osburn and Edward Carr a
committee to confer with the company.
1t certainly should be kept in
mind that the proposition is who
would carry out their agreement, and
Owosso already knows enough of the
character of the business done by this
company and-the character OF the help
employed to be able to Judge how much
she can afford to pay to have plant
that will employ one hundred fifty more
such men who will bring families to
the city with them in many cases. That
it would be great and needed benefit
to the city no one can doubt.
The usual feature of risk in Offering
a bonus to strange firm quite un-
known to home people is eliminated in
this case. The matter of cost 1t would
seem, alone remains to be considered.
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