The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-10

This town is substantial. It is noted for its rich men, and 1t has score or so of millionaires who live on their incomes, and whose investments are scattered all over the world.
 Frankfort-on-the-M Main.
 Frankfort looks wealthy and modern. It has wide streets lined with new build- ings, notwithstanding it was an import ant point at the time of Charlemagne and a Roman military station nineteen cen- turies ago. Tn the middles ages 1t was great fair town, and it was then that 1t probably fell into the banking habit which has paid so well.
 Our national capital is interested in its new union railroad station which is to cost millions. Frankfort is only a finan- cial capital, but 1t has already a railroad station which cost $s.500,000. It has new postoffice, new theatre, new stock exchange and a large number of new hotels Its finest streets, the Zeil and with those of Berlin and Cologne, and 1t is noted for its parks and public gar dens.
 The American Invasion.
 On account of its wealth and business connections, Frankfort forms a good headquarters for the American invasion. Many kinds of our goods are sold. The Deering Harvester Company has an of- flee on Kaiserstrasse, and the McCor- micks lave also their agents here Amer ican typewriters. sewing machines and desks are found in different parts of the city, and there is one large store which sells only American shoes.
 During my stay have called at the offices of the Leopold Cassella & Co. dye works. which are among the largest Of the world, and had a chat with it's man. ager. While there I was taken through the counting room. containing hundreds of clerks Tn each room were desks from Grand Rapids, and attached to each desk by a hinged shelf so that 1t could be showed aside when not wanted. was a well-known American typewriter. The classification of the correspondence was in file cases from Cincinnati. and the manager as he showed them to me said he could not see how they had ever been able to do business without the Ameri- can file system. Said he:
 You Yankees are wonderful You systematic things SO that one man can do the work of three. We formerly kept our letters in copy books and spent hours in looking up one series of correspond ence. Now the original letters and the copies of our answers are filed away to- gether fin one of these cases. and we can find the whole thing at once"
 How the Germans Make Dyes.
 It was through this man that I was able to go through one of the great dye factories of Germany. Leopold Cassella & Co., have a big dye establishment within a few miles of Frankfort. Their factories cover many acres and they employ in the neighborhood of 2.0O0 hands. The firm is we'll known in the United States. It has a house in New York, another in Lyons, one in Russia and a fourth in Bombay.
 Until within few years ago the chief dyes of the world came from England Then the Germans learned the secret of their manufacture and improved upon 1t, They sent out travellers all over the world. and adapted their goods to the needs of different localities. They now practically monopolize the trade, and you find German dyes everywhere, in Asia, South America, North America and Aus tralia. The Chinese will take none but German colors, at least I was told SO during my last visit to that country. and it Is much the same with the East Indians and other peoples of the Orient.
 A Great Dye Factory.
 Taking a carriage I drove with Mir. Brasler. one of the Cassella employees, out to the factory. It consists of about twenty acres of enormous buildings, with high smokestacks above them. Every thing Is dirty and smoky, and I might also say smelly, for as you approach the establishment the air is laden with odors. The streets between the buildings are fill- ed with tubs and hogsheads of curious compounds, and everywhere you look you see some new process going on with sooty-faced. or rather dye-faced. men watching it. Here the men are lifting La.. z ta1 fnt., vats half filled with other liquid, which is being so stirred by machinery that 1t seethes and bubbles like witch's caldron. Az the new stun flows in the color changes. It becomes a light yellow, a brilliant scarlet. or perhaps an ultra marine blue. The men know just how much Is needed, and also that if there Is too much or too little the whole caldron of dye may be spoiled.
 The Chemical Laboratories.
 As went though these works l learned that dyemaking Is an exact science. Everything is the outcome of experf- ments. and the work is based on chemi- cal assays and chemical combinations There are about eighty chemists employ ed in the laboratories. They test the materials used. and experiment on new combinations. When a man discovers any thing it Is at once reported to the firm and patented, and according to the con- | tract all such discoveries belong to the | firm. Consul General Guenther tells me | that new patents are applied for almost | every week, and I understand that these l people have a monopoly of some branches l of the business. These chemists go to all parts of the world to study the dyes used there. They analyze the native dyes | and initiate them.