The Washington herald., 1907-05-12

'The movement for Greater Washing
ton. which began just a year ago, has
! the establishment OF one successful man
ufacturing plant to its credit"
| In these words. Robert n. Harper. pres
ident Of the new Chamber Of Commerce,
/ drew the attention Of a Herald reporter to
an enterprise started ia Washington last
September. which is now turning out $50
dozen OF boys knee pants each week. Of
an average value OF s., 200
The factory IN question is located on
the top floor OF the building al 457 c
street northwest, OF which scheimaa
Bros. & Epman. Of New York and Brook
lyn, are the proprietors. The company
now employs thirty operators, has forty
machines installed. and last week rented
an additional floor OF the building. with
the intention Of removing their entire
manufacturing plant from Brooklyn 10
Washington between nov and July l.
One OF the scheiman brothers was found
at the factory yesterday and explained
how the attention Of the company was
first attracted TO Washington and Why X
had decided to abandon Brooklyn and
locate here permanently. Mr.. Scheiman
said that last summer the company had
been through about t8o years Of uninter-
rupted trouble with their labor in Brook
lyn- About half the time. he said. they
were without reliable operatives, and il
seemed impossible to carry on business
with the interruption Of strikes and the
demands made upon them by their en-
ployes. Last summer, Mr.. Scheiman
said, they read in the papers about the
movement for Greater Washington The
accounts given of the need for manufac-
turing here, he said, appealed TO them.
and they decided 70 establish d branch
factory here. with the idea Of trying %
solve their difficulties IN Brooklyn.
Experiment Proves successful.
Mr.. seheiman said the output at first
was small but as the girls and women
became more expert it increased, and BY
the middle Of the winter the factory was
running 10 its capacity Mr.. Scheiman
said the chief object OF ths branch was
10 test the quality OF labor and determine
whether a sufficient number Of operatives
could be secured and trained to work the
entire plant. He said that he had all
the proof be wanted on that score and
that he had made arrangements 10 bring
the outfit here and close up the manu-
featuring business in Brooklyn. He
thought it probable that the Office in
New York would be maintained. al least
for one year. Mr.. Scheiman said all the
essentials Of a good manufacturing busi-
ness were TO be found mere. including
shipping facilities. and he declared that
his factory by next fall would be turning
out about I,00J 10 1900 dozen OF knee
pants a week for their trade. On July !,
he said. fifty more machines would be in
stalled and additions TO the plant would
be made later as needed.
Among the factory hands the company
employs a few boys and men. such as
cutters. pressers. and employees in ths
packing rooms. For the machine work.
girls and women only are employed. The
ages of those now employed range from
seventeen TO thirty-fve. The youngest
employe in the factory is a girl sixteen
years old who runs the button machine.
Pays Good Wages.
Mr.. Seheiman explained that he en-
ployed no one for less than s. a week.
He said he took inexperienced girls at
these wages, and at the end Of two weeks
them 10 earn that much on the
basis Of piece work He said where the
girls showed aptitude they could easily
make 81 d week after fortnights ex-
perienee. From that point they increased
their pay TO S and S a week.
A notice has been posted in the operat-
ing room which offers a prize Of s. 70
the woman or girl who first earns $50
and SO to the one who first earns - a
week. Mr. Scheiman said tie average
wages paid at the present time 10 the
women and girls is 81 to $40 per day.
The operatives IN the factory are all
Yankees - as Mr.. Scheiman expressed il,
meaning that none of them were Of for
aign birth. He said he expected TO ind
enough such employees 10 supply his fac
ory after July / he said his experience
was that out of three OF the girls and
women tried at the machines, one was a
successful operative
Mr., Harper in remarking upon the sue
,ess Of this establishment said it was
roof of the most positive kind that man
lfacturing. such as is carried on in other
ities, would pay IN Washington. and that
conditions which had often been declared
o be wanting here were found to exist
~ d company that has put it To prac-