The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-01
BREWING AND BOTTLING.
An Enterprise Which is Helpful to the
 City.

'Seventy-five per cent. of the ex- penses of a brewery or bottling plant is included in paying for labor and for placing the goods upon the market. From this it will be seen that an in- dustry of this character turns loose directly into the community in which it Is located more in proportion than any other form of manufacturing en- terprise."
 The speaker was A. B. Meyer, the young manager of the Capitol Brew ing and Ice Company which has just completed a most successful six months of existence. In speaking of the success the plant had achieved in the first six months, he incidentally called attention to the advantages that accrued to a city from the existence of a plant of that sort within its limits.
 The plant of the Old Montgomery Brewery, located at the foot of North Hull Street on the line of the Central of Georgia Railroad, naturally draws attention as the distinctive type of this class of manufacturing industry. There are other bottling plants in the city. less ambitious, but no less pro- portionately successful
 The Capitol Brewing and Ice Compa- ny represents an investment of $250.- 900. has a yearly capacity of 35,000 DaTT6lB, anu LuTnS out OV loHS OL iCc daily. The company enjoys a wide market. Its products are sold in Ala bama Georgia and Florida.
 'aThe present company began busi- ness the first of last year." said MT. Meyer, i've are very much gratified at our first six months business. I may say that it has exceeded the expecta- tions of the most sanguine members of the company. Cur trade has grown constantly and is still growing. The officers of the company are N J. Greil. President; I. Veil. Treasurer; J. Well, Secretary and A. B. Meyer, General Manager. The Board of Directors is composed of the officers and the fol- lowing well known gentlemen: M. l.. Greil, E. Lobman. I. S. Steiner and A. Steiner, of Atlanta.
 "One element of our success, and a strong element, was the fact that we have not been handicapped by any lack of capital. We were not forced to sell our beer as soon as it was made. We could afford to hold 1t until it was properly lagered or until the market was satisfactory. This has given us freedom of action in business and it has assisted us In turning out a better article of beer.
 We have been able to establish and maintain a policy of using only the best material that can be put into beer. The hops we use are imported and we use only the finest malt. We have on the premises one of the best artesiafl wells in this section of the State.
 Tt is not generally known that our payroll each week is between $1.OOO and $1.2O0 a week. And. in this con nection, I want to draw your atten- tion to the fact that the chief cost of an enterprise of this sort Is the labor and the placing of the goods upon the market. These items take up fully seventy-five per cent. of the company's expenses. Of course the material. the fuel and the other expenses run up to a considerable figure during the course of a year. but they do not begin to compare with the labor. selling and shipping expenses.
 "In the city of Montgomery we have at work six city salesmen. Moreover we keep two travelling salesmen con- stantly on the road
 We have unusually good railroad facilities and the freight rates are very favorable. We have had no trou- ble in meeting competition from this score. Then we are near the coal fields of Alabama and we get our fuel at a ahsap rate. We can get coal at a fiat