Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1906-03-21
Correspondence.
southwest Harbor Glue FACTORY.
EASTERN OIL AND GLUE Co.,
MANsET, ME-, March II.


MANsET, ME-, March IL,
To the Editor Of The American:
The article which appeared in your edi-
ton of March Ii under the healing OF
..Southwest Harbor Glue Factory, and
signed by E. F. league, has been called to
our attention by some of our friends, and
we therefore ask that you kindly allow US
space in your paper to correct some very
misleading statements which appeared in
the article.
Upon reading the article ourselves we
very naturally ask, what could be the
motive which prompted this article, and
we therefore made inquiries to learn if
anyone in the ice-cream, souvenir postal
card, or fruit and confectionery business
had contemplated any expenditure of
large sum of money on additions to their
stands, and which had not been done
owing to the starting of the glue factory.
We were unable to get any positive in
formation that such was the case, neither
could we find anyone who had known OF
our summer merchants tarrying in the
town to do missionary work for the
lettering of the condition of the perma-
nent population of Southwest Harbor. In
making our round of inquiries, we came
in contact with thrifty, industrious class
of people, most of whom did not appear to
know when the summer hotels opened or
closed, and who felt that 1t was i'm
material to them whether or not they ever
opened or closed.
ft,,a f,,t nN,r q
motive was that someone had hit upon a
scheme to use the glue factory toladvertise
the summer business, remembering that
we had been informed that last season was
an exceptionally prosperous one for the
hotels, most of them keeping open later
than usual, and during certain parts of
the season finding it hard to accommodate
all their guests.
Believing that this is the motive, we
will state that we are perfectly willing
that they should use us in this way, as we
believe that it brings to our town.a broad
minded class OF people. We believe that
fully ninety per cent. of the guests OF one
of the hotels visited and inspected our
plant the past summer some coming two
or three times. We found the greater
part of them educated, sociable and re-
fined people, and we enjoy such company.
The first paragraph in the article asserts
that the fishing business sis large. A
conservative estimate (bssed on facts)
shows the amount of capital invested for
real estate alone, for the exclusive use OF
the fish business, to be in the neighbor-
hood of 800 600, and further investment
of $4,000 for the purchase of merchan-
disc, labor, ETC., divided between five fish
firms, and numerous owners of small
naphtha launches and fishing boats.
1t would be inferred from the article
that there was practically no labor fur
nished to the inhabitants of the town
other than that furnished by the summer
hotels, while as a matter of fact the clam
factories expended something Hike 81, 900
for merchandise and labor, while the glue
factory paid out for labor alone $500,
vouchers for which are on file at the office
of the corporation.
The article further reads that the sum
mer business sis large, and states that
there are five large summer hotels. We
can call to mind only four regular sum-
mer hotels, namely, The Dirigo, Stanley
house, Claremont, and Ocean house,
ranging in size in the order mentioned,
and with an average capacity of one hun
dred people. Not SO very large, it would
seem; merely fair-sized boarding houses.
Now in regard to the amount OF pro-
fit which the summer hotels give to the in
habitants. From the best figures we can
gather, the four hotels employ approx
mately seventy-five people, instead of 200,
as stated in the article. The hotels are
open on an average ten weeks OF the year,
which is equal to $50 people for one week,
and allowing that the average salary is
500 per week, would show an expendi-
ture of all the hotels for labor of s, $50, for
one year.
Let us see how the hotels further benefit
the town. Do they buy their supplies in
| Southwest Harbor? We know OF some