Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-01-09
No. ~.

WO0dss IL Woulu not De out OF uIuti, Pci-
haps, to call attention to an economic
proverb well known, OF course, to every
one, but SO important as to call for fre-
quent mention lest 1t be by chance over
looked: that raw material, as such, sell
dom brings prosperity to its possessors.
The producers OF the great raw ma
terials, iron, wood, cotton, wool and
leather, In their primary stages, In the
great majority OF cases, do not reap
reward that measures up to the full pro-
portions that The importance OF their SER
vices ought to yield. That Is generally
captured by those who furnish the capital
and labor for the later transformations.
We should see to it that our hard woods
leave our hands not only as finished pro-
as possible.
To this end a constant wat n should be
kept by all till finsily--and IL will surely
be found by someone IL looked for with
sufficient earnestness-an adaptation OF
our material to some special use will
| be hit upon. Instances of this were the
| discovery that the wood of the Usage,
about as useless woods as grow in our
southern states, but heavy and close
grained, was particularly adapted TO
make shuttles for cloth weaving looms;
and the light and porous sycamore for
tobacco boxes. Our beech is q peculiarly
heavy wood OF great resistance, and
believe that there Is some want that 1t
! xriu vat fiIt tn uood nurnasa
Our mineral resources have been re-
ferred to earlier. They not only may in
clude nearly all the valuable metals, but
for certainty We have In hancocS
county the best of building stones,
granite, without end, in sight at least.
| The history OF buiidiag operations hos
been the same this word over. Wood fleet
aud while 1t is easily and cheaply pro-
cured, and then stone or brick, heretofore,
I aom 1AssS iu uuianet,on with Hon.
Our country is rspidly filling up with
people, We are passing TO tue second stage.
Granite Is a hard thing to tind after you
leave New England tiIl you reach the
Rocky mountains. There is more or less
OF 1t elong tue Appalachian chain, but II
is ali remote from the coast. Its great
weight aud small proportional value pre-
vent It's transportation by rail, white
from places Ia sight of Ellsworth it can
be sluiced from the quarry to the ocean
going vessel. Think OF tine markets with
In reach of 1t thep9 The business is de-
pressed just now from various causes, but
IT cannot always be 50.
But materials are only one factor in the
equation of production. Labor is another
and greater one. Have we that 10 sd-
vantage? think so. Labor, as has been
said, Is not coDtined to human beings
less so now than ever and constantly
growing less. Force, power OF any kind,
viii perform labor.
The discovery aud application Of steam
power made one man equal 10 more than
fifty before. Ii revoiationized produce
ton. 1t made the bare and barren
British Isles the "workshop OF the
worid'', and they have remained SO until
this day, but there are signs arising that
there is .another Richmond Ia the Heidi.
1t is believed and published by the lead
ing minds OF the industrial world that
the reign OF steam is over. That the days
OF generating lower BY steam from COM
bustion of fuei--as stationary power at
ieast-are drawing 10 q close; that this
I has nos become too costly.
Tue coming power Is believed to be
water power. Water power was In use
long before steam, but up TO within about
ten years it could oniy be used substan-
| tiaiiy at the waterfall Itself. Waterfalls
were relatively scarce and generally re-
mote; fuei was plenty, and under the ad-
yantsges recited, of manufacturing in
large centres, steam p>wer drove water
power 10 the wall. All this has been
changed by the Developments in electrical
engineering, and the decreased cost OF
transportation. The waterfall nov mag
| be scores OF miles away aud the power
| conducted oyera wire. Still the distance
Is limited, because the wire leaks power
aud it is Of considerable expense while
the cost ot transportation Is Constantly
| failing.
/ The possibilities hat how from this are
/ Tremendous. The workshop of the
world" must move. England, wiki her
dense population and earlier developed
4 coal fields, had the advantage OF US
under steam power. We are vastly her
superior in water power. For causes that
need not be explained, the wages OF
human labor in England are lower than
| in the United States. With this adj
vantage and her advantage under the
reign of steam, she has been able to more
than hold her own with us in manu-