Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-09-09

business with all the world. The ma
terials Is uses in manufacture are heavy
and the greater part OF them are carried
many thousand miles, The city has some
water power. but there is no. coal nearby
to give IL cheap steam. Il was once close
to "A hardwood region, butfthe greater part
OF the hardwood has been long since cut
away, and nevertheless the city grows and
increases in fits speciality year by year. In
1890 Grand Rapids had just about 10000
inhabitants. It has today more than
100000. and it's houses and factories are
scattered over seventeen square miles, 1t
has sixteen steam railroads. and its tram
ways. operated BY. electricity, have fifty
miles OF track. The public parks of Grand
Rapids are worth almost s2.ooo.ooo, and
its clearing house business is more than
$lOo,ooo,ooO per annum.
Grand Rapids has $50 factories. employ
ing over 2ooo0 hands, with a daily pay
roll Of over $4,000 The most OF the
factories are devoted to furniture. and
some Of them are enormous.
-
In a Big Furniture Factory.
During my stay l have gone through
one of the Largest, which makes the finest
OF BEDS china closets. dining tables and
sideboards. The factory turns out
chamber suites which cost as much as
$500. and 1t has made dining tables
worth close TO $1,000 The most of the
furniture is OF course. much cheaper, but
ALI is Of The highest grade, and such as
you viii find In our better class homes
throughout the country.
a large part of the work Of this estab-
lishment was done in mahogany. The
wood is brought here in logs and sawed
into boards. The boards are put away
in kilns and roasted until every. bit Of
moisture has gone out Of them. They
are then left under cover for a time to
absorb enough moisture TO be easily
worked. and are then run through ma
chine after machine to be trimmed and
polished for furniture making. A great
deal of the manufacture is by hand and
many OF the iaborers receive high wages.
i Without attempting TO give the process
in detail. I will mention one or two odd
things saw'as went through the works.
All Fine FarnftgFe veneered.
One was that the finest furniture OF to-
day is veneered. We like TO think that
our, mahogany is solid and we often talk
OF our solid mahogany dining tables. side
boards and bed room sets The truth is
there is mighty little such stun in the
markets and the veneered furniture is far
more beautiful than any solid article could
be. The reason is that In veneering a
section OF wood which has a beautiful
grain can be so cut up Into sheets that
It will cover a large space The sheets
are Just about as thick as ones big toe
nall but one log may make several hun
dred of them and when they are properly
glued to cheaper woods the two are as
solid as though they had grown together.
The machinery here is such that skins Of
this fine wood can be fitted to furniture
of every shape. 1t can be pasted around
column or follow the curves OF an arm
chair or the scroll-like roll of bedstead.
The mahogany Is put':on rough and is
carved. smoothed and polished in such
a way that one could not but imagine
that every piece is solid.
I found a great deal OF original work
going on In the factory. One room was
devoted to designers who were planning
new furniture and in another skilled carv-
ers were working the wood out &C
cording TO designs piece by piece. There
was also large Photographic room where
the finished furniture is photographed to
show the trade the coming styles.
aNuafnR IN Rr0ana~fa.a