Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-04-26

child was born which has, in these
less than so years, grown into such a
giant among the industries of the
west. From Il shop half the size
of the ordinary store room it has
spread. When Mr.. Rosenffeld became
a partner, 80 years ago, the factory
had floor space of 6,4OO square feet.
1t is generally considered a good bus
mess that doubles its capacity every
second year, but if an average is TAX
en- it is found that this company has,
in the last thirty years, more than
tripled its floor space every year. In
otner words, the present company
has considerably more than one hun
! dred times more floor space than
when the late president, Mr.. Rosen-
/ field, became a partner in 1869, as
shown above. Ten to fifteen men was
a large force to employ then, while
now steady work is given to fully five
! hundred hands. Nor does this state
mcnt sufficiently emphasize the in
creased capacity of the factory. for
it must be remembered that under
present conditions each employee is
not only a skilled workman but has
the use of the best machinery and
labOr-saving devices. Even thirty
years ago the limited room and man
ual labor of the factory was often
taxed to the utmost to secure what
was then regarded as an immense
output. ten wagons a week, while IL
complete wagon is now made every
six minutes.
1t required enterprise and business
sagacity of high degree to bring the
Moline Wagon company to the posi-
ton it now occupies among the very
first wagon factories of the country.
Its success all these years has, per
haps, been due as much to the excel
lence of its product as to the charac-
ter of its management. At the same
time that very excellence is nothing
but the fruit of keen business acu-
men. system of railway tEackagc
was inaugurated years ago which
made il possible to place lumber and
other materials direct from the cars
into the yards and warehouses and
from there into the works without
any hauling. Economics has been
brought to science. but the saving
thus accomplished. instead of going
into dividends. has been put back into
the quality of the wagons. This is
truly wise policy and the result is
shown in half-tone illustrations which
appear in catalogues of the company
of wagons made by it and in use af-
ter twenty years of constant wear.
THE LATE MORRIS RosENFIELD
Norris Rosenfield, for so many
years the brains and vital force of the
company, was native of Germany
and came to this country in 1854. a
lad of Is years. He settled at Rock
Island, and there he was engaged in
the leather business until he was -.
| He then sold out his interest in the
| leather business and became part
ner with James First in the manufac-
! ture of wagons at Moline. Three
years later he organized the Moline
| Wagon company. being its first and
only president until his demise. which
occurred in January, 1899. The his
tory of this company is his history
as business man. During his man
agement there existed the most cor
dial relations between the company
and its employees. No public enter
prise sought his endorsement in vain.
Nor was his influence local. He was
Il delegate to the national republican
convention at Minneapolis in 1892, and
had wide personal acquaintance