The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1900-04-25

pans u Jay at an uNtidkt NtAi-
Ing price OF 81 70, or about two million
dollars year. This industry offers an
excellent held for the employment OF
home labor The manufacturers have
demonstrated by actual test that this
is the most satisfactory labor, and they
offer 1t every encouragement As an
evidence of this labor troubles are NOT
known. The employment is steady. con
timing the year round
Within the past three years special at
tention has been given by some of the
manufacturers to the development Of
foreign trade, with wonderful results.
one of them is now exporting large guam
titles to Norway. Germany, Russia, Den
mark and Mexico, with negotiations
pending for the establishment OF agen-
ces In Australia. The control of the
America naturally belongs to New Or
leans. and 1t is a fact that the New Or
leans manufacturers have been emit
nently successful In capturing It. This
field develops cons antly increasing de
mand. The uniform excellence Of the
New Orleans made shoe has given 1t
dependable reputation The superior
quality of some Of the special lines has
done much TO establish a permanent de
mand wherever they have been sold, and
the future of his great Industry Is very
bright.
Notwithstanding the fact that there
has been an enormous increase in the
value OF the materials entering into tn"
manufacture OF shoes. and a consequent
Increase in the price, there has been
no abatement in the volume of business.
On the contrary, it is understood that
one of the establishments has increased
the output of one brand 80 1-3 per cent
over the output last year
FoUNDRIES AND MACHINERY.
Situated in the heart of the sugar coun-
try, where In days gone by every little
was natural that New Orleans should
boast of a number of, foundries and ma
chine shops. Though the number of SUI
gar-houses in this state has been mate
rally reduced by the tendency to the
central factory system, the large and
extensively equipped central factories
require as much or more machinery than
the aggregate of the little sugar houses'
and the New Orleans machine shops,
which have also improved with the
times, have had as much work as they
could handle. as a rule. There are ex-
ceptions, Of course. bad sugar sea
son usually means little work for the
foundries. for then the sugar planters
cannot afford to indulge in improve.
ments. but when there has been par
ticularly prosperous season the foun-
dries are kept going night and day dur
ing the entire season following
There are In this city three foundries
which will compare favorahly with any
in the south, and one which an expert
who was here recently says is the equal
of any in the country. They employ
about eight hundred men, and represent
an invested capital Of probably a mil
lion dollars. One of them recently put
in about a hundred thousand dollars
worth of improved machinery, and has
so equipped its plant that 1t can turn
out any character of work that would
be required. 1t recently took contract
to equip an entire sugar house of the
modern kind, and every part of the work
Is being done right here in New or
leans. The casting and turning Of SUI
gar mills has been done here in New
ORLEANS 81 hafo
fact. one foundryman stated that he had
recently gotten an order for peculiar
kind Of a roller, and was told by the
planter that the original had been cast
In that very foundry before he was born
He looked up the pattern in his pattern
shop, and, sure enough, there 1t was, and
all 1t required was to be put in the mold.
and the hot metal poured In. But the
carried on here TO any extent. The es
adjustments here have taken orders for
them right along. but it has been rule
to have the heaviest parts of the cast
ing made in Cincinnati or Cleveland.
The foundries here use a large quaint
ty of pig iron, most Of which comes from
Alabama. but they also use vast
amount Of scrap iron. Owing 10 the
large amount of machinery in the sugar.
houses. and the continual remOdeling OF
sugar machinery, there Is good deal or
old iron thrown on the market which Is
utilized by the local establishments. But
the three foundries referred TO above are
not the only ones here There are a
dozen smaller ones. which in the agsre-
equipped so as TO do any of the heavier
castings, which go to the large foun-
dries. but they do great deal of III"
smaller casting. and are able to do It.
as rule, cheaper than the larger estab-
lishments.
One of the large foundries recently got
q contract TO construct a six roller mill
for a sngar-house in competition with
-, 49,, o II ODD ~
dries of Cincinnati and birmingham
And the next bidder on the contract,
which ran into the thousands of dollars,
was less than fifty dollars higher than
his. showing how closely they figured
on the work.
As for machine shops. there are sew
eral well-equipped plants here; and one
which has recently been greatly, extend
marine work. 1t gives employment to
a hundred tirst-class machinists. and
has been able to do some marine work
that was equal to any which could have
been done at the great shipyards.
There Is probably two million dollars
invested in machine plants and foun-
dries in this city, and they give employ
ment to fully twenty five hundred men.
The class of machinists in this city Is
admitted to be equal to any In the coun-
try, and they acquire high degree Of
skill
WOODWORKING ESTABLISHMENT
There are nunoer Of ,"oou"oIh
ing plants In this city. which not only
supply the local trade, but export large
quantities of finished goods. There are
about a dozen sash, door and blind fac
make make every quality of goods, both from
the soft and hard woods. In years past
| they made what Is known as stock goods;
that is. blinds and sashes of standard
architecture of even the humblest dwell
lngs, the demand for stock goods has
fallen off considerably, and there has
come in Its stead demand for special
| factories turn out a high class of work,
| because the mechanics in that line are
| among the best in the country, and
their product finds It's way not only an
| exports of large orders to south ana
Central American points. and to the West
| Indian Islands. Mexico has for many
years been large consumer Of New Or
| leans made woodwork. The local fac
| tories also turn out very high grSSne
| of ornamental woodwork, such as man
| tells, cabinets, office fixtures, etc, Some
of the most ornate office fixtures In New
| Orleans are the product. of local facto-
| ries These factories give employment
to hundreds Of men, and as they are,
s1 nnd high class ne2 haTs .,1 ssy
enced a steady prosperity; At times
| fact, that has been the rule, rather than
the exception, ana TOT that reason there
is room for the further development of
the industry. New Orleans, the best
market in the country, beyond a doubt.
for ali kinds of woods suitable for this
class of work, ought to be the great
wood working center of the country, and
| instead of a dozen factories there should
| be hundred. and instead of a few
orders occasionally coming from the 9th
| er side of Mason and Dixon's line, train
| loads OF New Orleans turned woodwork
should be shipped out of here right
along The labor is competent, and the
| conditions here are nil such as TO make