The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-28
USING UP THEIR FORESTS
FURNITURE MIXING AT THE SOUTH.
A Profitable Industry of Large Pros


 It is probably not generally knowl
 that the making of all kinds of furni ture for dwelling and office, from thu simplest and plainest to the most ele gant, has become an important indus try in several of the southern states. St
 much attention has been attracted tC the manufacture of cotton goods tha
 the furniture industry has developed
 almost unnoticed. This is due in par
 to the fact that the relatively small in.
 vestment demand for the equipment o1
 a woodworking shop, as compared witt
 a plant of spindles and looms has per
 mitted the development to be made
 with local capital, and that the north
 ern states have very little interest ir
 the business. It does not compare with
 the cotton manufacturing industry
 either in the number of establishments
 or of capital invested, but it is very profitable is rapidly growing, and
 promises a development in the near fu- ture which will make 1t of national as | we'll as of local importance. Indeed, it
 may be so considered at the present time.
 When the inspiration of progress seiz- ed the South, and those With ambition for something better than the idle life of the plantation, which never was half
 as attractive or luxurious as those who
 know it only from tradition believe it
 to have been, began to look about them
 for ways of earning living more prof
 itable than making cotton" with free labor, numbering in the mountain dis
 tricts and great swamp areas of the South became a business of consider able proportions. The South had pretty much al the avilble timber remaining, and the fact that large quantities of 1t were shipped to Grand Rapids and other centers of the furniture industry to be manufactured, suggested the in- quiry why 1t could not be worked up at home and shipped as manufactured product as well as a raw material.
 It was found upon investigation that nearly all the cheap furniture required by the South was made of southern wood, which, first as lumber. and after ward as tables, chairs, bedsteads. and the like, had been transported l,50o to ,O00 miles, and reached the consumer burdened with the charges of this who'll ly unnecessary haulage from forest to factory and back again to it's market, which might be within sight of the place where it was cut. The first of the southern furniture factories of which can find record was built in 1870 near London Tenn, and in modest way was successful. It attracted no great attention at first, but as 1t paid good dividends and had a market close at hand for all 1t could produce, those who had at first regarded the venture with istrust began to think that the South might not only supply it's own limited requirements domestic and for eign. as well. Gradually factories were built at Knoxville, Chattanooga Atlanta, and other centers affording good facilities for rail distribution. They did so well that others quickly followed There are now in the South about 250 manufactorfes of this kind, and a great many more are planned which will be in operation within the next six months.
 Probably the most important center of the business is at High Point, N. c. It's first furniture factory was built in 1889. It now has some 25, and it is )nly second to Grand Rapids, Mich, in his line of business, As there Is at High Point, according to local statis- ician, one furniture factory for every 69 inhabitants, it follows that the en- ire population is engaged in the busi- less in some capacity.
 At the outset the southern shops con | ined themselves to the production of | he plainest and simplest kinds of | furniture, of the grades deem- d best suited to the local market. | Cheap bedroom suites were the favor te product. The prices at which they were produced attracted the attention f dealers in other parts of the country, nd of exporters as well, and as in- uiries came for other grades and | lasses of furniture the product rapidly and soon covered every hing standard in the furniture line.
 The history of this industry has been cry much like that of cotton manu- acture, which, as will be remembered, egan with heavy and medium yarns, nd was not expected in any event to eveop beyond coarse sheetings and hirtings, The first furniture made in he South had little beyond cheapness , commend it. This may have been ,ise, but it was soon found that any-N hing which could be made at Grand .apids could be made as well in any 1uthern mill and at less cost The Kill and experience were soon acquir- l. and capable designers were secured { home and abroad. At first the best atterns were initiated, but the more lterprisng manufacturers are now splaying considerable skill in origin ting designs. Much of the southern ork is strictly first-class in every re- ,ect, and within comparatively few aars the business promises to become extensive and important as the of cotton fabrics. The ex- ,rtation of southern furniture is al- , ady important and shows a steady crease. The advantages of the South for fur ( ture manufacture are practically \ entical with those claimed for it's tex f e industry Of these the most ob- q ous, as well as the most important, r its great variety of woods. Lumber q -ailabe for furniture manufacture. f hich costs 1925 per 1G0O feet in Grand ii apids, including an average haulage l.
 rail of 1000 miles, cost In the South
 average of $10 per s100 The South f still we'll timbered, and thousands of h uare miles of it's mountain slopes h e virgin forest. Every variety of n I'd wood known in the North and n