The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-15
SHOB AND FED
 BY THE WEST
ST. LOUIS SUPREMACY IN THE SHOE BUSINESS ESTABLISHED
One of the Reasons for the Tremen- dous Strides 1t Has Made In Man. ufacturinq Is the Grit and
 Push of Its Merchants.

westward the star of empire takes it's way,p sang the poet. His allusion was to the resistless trend of civilization to fol- low the sun in its course. In these days, however we place a different construction on the term ''empire" With us it means commerce, trade, and its movement is steadily from the east to the west It 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 1t has also be- come a great manufacturer, 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 prosperity today is dependent upon 1t. Many other New England towns are prosperous or depress- ed according as the shoe business is flour ishing or declining. Because the trans formation of the shoe manufacturing cen ter 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. It has attained its position so quietly and with so little os- tentation that its pre-eminence is hardly realized as yet.
 One of the exhibits in the manufactures building at the St. Louis worlds fair serves, in a striking way, to show why the. St. Louis shoe men lead the process sion, The exhibit, which is made by the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Co. of St. Louis, is that of the arrangement and process of a modern American shoe fac tory In this exhibit the manifold de- tails that interpose between the rough leather and It's transformation into the tasteful and ornamental shoes of com merce are every one shown.
 The concern making this exhibit, hy the way, might with entire propriety be placed on exhibition itself as an object 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 placed 1t in the west Even in commu- nity that is notedsfor it's great business enterprises with worldwide qualifications, the progress onward and upward of this concern has been watched with pride and amazement, Each year in the six years the concern has been in existence has been a record breaker It has set pace for the ensuing year to catch up to and surpass The fact that 1t has done so stamps the concern as the greatest expan- sionist known.
 An approximate idea of the magnitude of any business can be gleaned from sta ytistics, 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 Its several shoe factories varies from between 2o00 to 25.000 pairs the year. C. L1
 The. expanding. business of the house forces it to keep constantly building new factories Star Brand'f shoes are only six years olds+ but they are already modern giant in public esteem.