The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-15
sHoD AND FED BY THE WEST.
st. Louis Supremacy in the Shoe Bus
mess Established

westward the star of empire takes
its way" sang the poet. His allusion
was to the resistlesS trend of civiliza-
ton to follow the sun in its course
In these days, however, we place a
different construction on the term
empire With us it means COM
merce, trade, and its movement is
steadily from the East to the West.
1t is not so many years ago when the
West bought all its supplies from the
East, paying for the manufactured
products it consumed in wheat, corn
and other food products. Today the
West is still the great food producer.
but it has also become great manu-
facturer and has wrested the palm of
supremacy in many important lines
from the East.
One of these lines is shoes. For
many years New England seemingly
had a mortgage on this industry. The
city of Lynn in Massachusetts was built
by the shoe industry, and its prosper
ity today is dependent upon it. Many
other New England towns are prosper
Gus or depressed according as the shoe
business is fourishing or declining.
Because the transformation OF the
shoe manufacturing center from the
East to the West has been so quickly
wrought, many people do not know
that ST. Louis today manufactures and
sells more shoes than any other city
in the country. 1t has attained it's
position so quietly and with so little
Ostentation that it's pre-eminence is
hardly realized as yet.
One Of the exhibits in the Manufac
lures Building at the St Louis
Worlds Fair serves, in striking way
to show why the st. Louis shoe men
lead the procession. The exhibit,
which is made by the Roberts, john
son & Rand Shoe Co., of st. Louis, is
that of the arrangement and process
of a modern American shoe factory.
In this exhibit the manifold details that
interpose between the rough leather
and its transformation into the taste
full and ornamental shoes of commerce
are every one shown.
The concern making this exhibit, by
the way, might with entire proprlety
be placed on exhibition itself as an OBJ
ject lesson in accomplishment. The
Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Co.
has led the forces that have wrested
from the East control of the nations
shoe trade and placpl it in the West
An approximate idea of the magni-
tude of any business can be CLEANED
from statistics, which are generally
pretty dry reading. but sometimes
prove to be alive and fairly bubbling
over with fascination. That is the
case with the figures that tell of the
Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Co. S
growth. For instance, the average
production of it's several shoe factories
varies from between $4,000 to $4,000
pairs of finished shoes every working
day in the year
The fact that three million people
are today wearing Star Brand shoes is
the best evidence of their worth and
merit. This Company makes it's trade
mark stand for absolute perfection in
shoes. For the maintenance of this
standard no detail is too slight or in
significant to receive the most palms.
taking attention. This thoroughness
explains why last year the concern in
creased it's sales $4,000 900 over those
of the preceding year. the largest gain
for a years business ever made by any
house in the world. It's total sales of
shoes for the year were over $4,000
900.
The expanding business of the house
forces it TO keep constantly building
new factories. Star Brand" Shoes
are only six years old, but they are
already a modern giant in public es-
TEEN.