The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-21
NEW YORK ALTRURIA
MODEL CITY NOW BUILDING ON
THE BANKS OF THE sUs-
QUEHANNA
WORKERS TO BE COMFORTABLE
Houses of the Foremen and of
Those Who Serve Under
to BE Exactly
~ Alike

| %@ENE of the most thorough going at
! q Il tempts to make the working man
" contented with, Ibis lot is being made
at Endicott. near Binghampton, N. Y,
4 Says the Brooklyn Eagle, where the J.
| E, Tit Shoe company is expending $1,000
/ coo in what is regarded either as a socio-
| logical experiment or a shrewd business
| plan-the classification depending entirely
! on the business viewpoint of the critic
! The ]. E. Tilt company means to make
| it's workers more conf ortable in their
| homes than those at Pullman ever were,
and it wants them to be more contented
| than the employees of the National Cash
| Register company, at Dayton, Ohio, used
| to be-
Endicott at present Is a good deal UNI
| finished, but it is being made to fit it's
| imposing name as fast as men and money
| can move materials. A year ago End1eott
! City was nonresident. Its site was
| pleasant site of meadow and hill on the
banks of the Susquehanna river. Today
| that tract looks as though orders had
| been given for the instant construction
of mammoth exposition, for from enc
end of the other it is q prey to the ex-
! cavator, the road maker, the sewer build
err the carpenter, the mllwright, the
bridge constructor and the iron worker.
Hundreds of men and horses are at work,
for the word has gone out that Endicott
| September, and to build a city-or even
a town or village-in four months
means hard, quick work, night and day.
until the last minute of the last day of
the contract time has expired.
When Endicott is fnished-and it Is
going to be completed on tine-it is to be
the site OF the largest tannery in the
| world, as well as the home of the finest
and biggest shoe factory in the United
! States Those two. institutions are de-
signed to form the nucleus around which
! the town will cluster for the inhabitants
| of Endicott, like the town Itself. are in. 4
the future. The population is to con-
sist as far as possible, solely of en-
ployes of the j. e. Tilt Shoe company.
of the Tilt tannery, OF the Lester Shoe
I company and of such other factories as
/ the parent firm may subsequently create
! in the town.
| Contentment is to be the keynote Of
| the new city, as far as human endeavor,
| unselfishly directed, can bring about that !
condition 1t is the wish of the founder.
j. E. Tilt, to make every one Of the
workers so comfortable and happy that
! discomfort will exist emily as word in
the dictionary-au expression which, in
the future of Endicott City, viii have
to be laboriously explained to it's chill
dren, and which, when so defined, will
! have to be taken entirely on trust.
In order to create a community In
which discomfort and envy win be I'M
! known, j. f. Tit, as the president Of
the Tilt company, Bought 100 ares OF
land on the banks of the Susquehanna.
On this land there Is to be built town
In which the house Of the factory super-
intendent will be no better than the res
dence of one of the shoemaker5. The
house of the official is to be perfect, and
! the home of the opJ rative is to be just
like it. Around the two main buildings
of the toWn-the factory and the tannery
| there have teen built more than one
| hundred cottages, each of the most mod
ern and beautiful design, equipped with
! every modern Improvement In the way
| of porcelain tubs, shower baths, conserva-
/ tories, clothes drying closets and plate
| glass refrigerators. Each of the cot
tages will be lighted with the electric
! light, and cleo rcal ranges and heating
| apparatus have been installed In eV-
cry respect the cottages will resemble the
most costly bungalows and sumner cot
| tages of the rich. Except that the cot.
| tages will not lave carriage entrances
! and accommodations for automobiles, any
! one of them might be the residence of
person accustomed to the clipping Of
| coupons instead of the shaping of leather
| uppers for shoes.
! Most of these cottages are to be rented
| at nominal terms to the employees Of the
company. A few of the palmer ones will
! he reserved by the company and viii be
! sold at cost to employees. The govern
! ment of the town will be as unique as
| it's construction. There will be no blue
| laws, no ant1-labor ordinances and no
| distinction of classes. 1t win be town
! in which every dWeller will be guaranteed
/ peace, plenty and absolute freedom so
| long as he abides Within the laws of the
/ community. And he will make those laws
/ himself. The man who planned Endicott,
1, II
''I was on the bench, not so long ago.
says Mr.. Tilt, land I know what the
! hired hand is to contend with. In my new
factory I propose to wipe out his diff
/ Gculties Peace of mind, self respect
and liberty are the three essentials to
good workman. Give him these three
! rights and he need thank nobody for the
! good wages that he will earn.
THE company does not expect its en-
ployes TO be in ,-ebt to 1t for anything
I That IS one of the things the men VINO
| have helped me in this enterprise want
to avoid. We're going to give the work
4 men easy finances, which, should bring
peace of mind; were going to eliminate
! all the old rotten conditions of class SUI
periority and affectation and our work
men and women can learn-if they do
not already know-that they are the
equals Of any men or women living.
Finally, we propose to have absolute
liberty In the community. The citizens
! viii make their own laws. We do not
! intend to make Sunday a day of Snug
! hypocrisy; there will be no laws forbid
ding the use Of liquor and tobacco We
| Will not forbid the workingmen lin our
| factory to join labor unions. '5ol9 "
When we have succeeded IN e4tab-.
fishing our factory town he shah. hope,
| find that there has arisen about Us a
community of men and women VINO en-
Joy peace, prosperity. and, above AL, Ia3-
| erty. We expect that they VIII natur-
ally become better workers than if they
were hampered, patroniZed or maltreated
j The man who has something on his
mind-the man with a personal grieY-
ance-canaot do his work properly The
I result of the conditions we hope to create
| viii be beneficial in a business way to
1 the great industry which we are found
| ing at ERdicett Our motives may be
1 called selfish. Perhaps they are I've
made up my mind, however, that the
American workman doesn't need any
philanthropy, nor any patronage. All Re
| wants IS fair treatment and free hand
The rest he win attend to for HIMSELF
Most of the money 50 far invested at
Endicott has bGen used for the compile
ton Of city improvements parks, base
! ball grounds and the laying out of
| streets. The latter will all be of ex-
! IRENE width and are being planted wi
! shade trees. The general work at End
colt is being pushed forward as rapidly as
possible and a special effort is being
made to finish the big shoe factory ard
| the tannery buildings ahead OF the time
fixed by the contracts. The shoe factory
will be Geo feet long AMI 100 feet deep and
| viii be six stories high 1t Is expected
/