The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-01-21
HOW 10 BUILD UP A CITY.


80
50 TO show that the last place in which |
appreciation II possible is within tho home
circle. and one Of these that no man can
DO hero TO bis valet. This is az true In
matters Of public and commercial con-
Germ as It Is in matters OF individual mo-
ment. The craze which moves people to
place value upon that which Is dis
tant. to the disadvantage Of that which Ia
near. is one Of tho things which we must
expect to meet,
As an illustration Of this. how many
people In Atlanta, for instance, have the
patriotism and the home spirit TO purchase
furniture made in their own city? These
people will 90 to large houses and look
ing over stocks Of goods will stand appre-
ciatively around some article made at
Grand Rapids. while beside It stands one
equal II not superior. which was made
right here at home! Not only that but
are there not merchants today In Atlanta
and in Georgia who deliberately refuse to
push the sale of homemade articles, while
all their energies are bent toward the ex-
plotting of articles of import2
~
The article Of furniture has been men
toned simply because 1t is one OF the lines
in which Atlanta has made distinct sue
cess. the history OF which goes to prove
the capabilities Of our city as a great man
ufacturing center. and the advantages
goods may be shipped TO any part of the
Union. Several years ago Mr.. Oscar Pap
penheimer and Mr.. Otto Schwab. with
several friends, conceived the idea that
here, being an empire in territory as well
as In population, there could exist no
reason why the article of furniture should
not prove profitable. Here was the de-
mand for the goods. In our forests was
to be found the raw material out OF which
they could be made. In our city was
the skilled and unskilled labor necessary
for the carrying on of the work AS
result, the Southern Furniture factory
came Into existence. Its work was quiet,
Its managers were taciturn, for the rea-
son that they were experimenting in
new field and methods Of transportation,
of sale, and SO on, had to be studied out
in order to place their goods and to reap
the proper returns. The success which
has come to this venture Is most phenom-
email. and, strange to say, the only In
difference found toward 1t was found
right here at home, where people continue
to buy Grand Rapids furniture while the
goods OF the Southern Furniture factory
meet those Of the Grand Rapids factories
| in every market, not only OF the South.
but Of the East and the West! In the big
| department stores of Philadelphia and
| New York and Boston the merchants will
promptly point out the consignments of
ATLANTA furniture side by side with that
from Grand Rapids. The business has so
| built up that its only limitations now
are those OF adverse tariffs upon our Ma
tional borders and even crossing these
| lines OF demarkation, the goods of the
Atlanta Furniture factory have found
their way down to the City of Mexico and
| into many parts of the republic.
~
| 1t must be understood that in what Is
written there is not one line Of adver-
| tisement. This is simply the aclxnowl-
edgment of a bold venture made by enter
prising citizens OF Atlanta, who conquer
| ing success from the established markets
OF other big concerns, have placed the
trade banner Of Atlanta flying at the mast
head. and have carried the name OF the
city far beyond any trade possibilities of
which our people had dreamed. They
have now factory covering an entire
square and dependent upon their pay rolls
are over 1000 people. Their freight per
week amounts to $500.
They pay ont for lumber alone $1,000 a
week, and on their labor bill $4,000 a week.
This is the kind Of enterprise which builds
up a city and State, and this is the kind
OF enterprise which should move Atlanta,
Savannah, Macon, Augusta and other cities
in Georgia to develop their resources. and.
entering the field of commerce, to wrest
from others that part OF 1t which rightly
belongs to our section. Fifty such men as
Mr.. Pappenheimer. striking out into the
management of untried fields. would revo-
lutionizc the condition Of even an entire
State
But there are other institutions In our
midst which. have also done good work in
the development of Atlanta and of Georgia.
Among these may be noted the Southern
Saw works, of which our people at large
have but as little idea as they have of the
immense work Of the Southern Furniture
factory. This Institution Is situated on the
Atlanta and West Point railroad Ave miles
from Atlanta, where It has a group OF
modern factory buildings. which arc
monument to what may be done by enter
prising men. From Captain Isaac S, Boyd.
who furnishes, through a recent issue OF
Dixie the facts concerning this tnstitu-
ton. II is learned that about eight years
ago few mon held conference to con-
slider the organization Of a company to en-
gage in the manufacture OF saws. The in
stituiion was started In a very crude man
ner. meeting with moderate success but
It was not until 1895 that the present man
agement, under the presidency Of Captain
Boyd. took hold Of the plant. He had for
his partner Colonel William G. Raoul,
vt..a,. Natt.u,t u .;i..,~