Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-31

SsS trict. Modern to the last word
In commercial architecture. they are also
models, within the walls, of what up-to-
the-minute business system calls for. One
of the managers of a big concern said re-
gretfully the other day, I'm afraid our
elevator gates are not the very latest"
Yet his building was put into active service
very recently. His remark as to elevator
gates that are possibly bettered today
voices the sentiment prevalent among his
class of Omaha merchants. Hence, it is
not surprising that Omaha wholesalers
are selling goods practically from coast to
coast, through Alaska and to the Russian
line. They are progressive in spirit, gem
erous in the matter of expenditure to have
the very best facilities. fair and open in
dealings with customers.
1t is not boasting in the slightest to as
sert that nowhere in the country can be
found a more solid or satisfactory setting
for active commercial life than In the
specimen group of modern wholesale build
ings pictured in this issue Of This Bee.
They are in reality commercial farms, for
their dimensions are spoken of most in
diligently in terms of acres. Their out
put is growing with the growth OF the
state; their actual and taxable value
mounts quite in ratio with the tremendous
strides upward OF Nebraska farming in
terests.
Take as an example the twin buildings
of the M. E. Smith company. More than
seven acres OF floor space II under the
roofs Of this establishment between Farnam
ard Douglas streetA Then there are out
lying plants in Council Bluffs and Nebraska
City. But on the home place. under most
Immediate ql1narvfaiOnL "a pvhara tha anirit
Of real commercial farming can be studied.
Cutting clothing by electric power applied
to knives Is an ordinary thing nowadays
In the Smith pant they cut clothing with
band saws, to the sixteenth part of an
inch, and the operators keep their fingers,
too. It's a shivery process to watch. when
a man is careleHly throwing around a
swiftly moving saw q pile Of cloh a. thick
as an elephants leg. Parts Of coats, pants
and shirts are sawed out IN bundles as
neatly as an expert handles q small scroll
saw on a piece OF thin board. and the rapid
ity of the process u astonishing. With a
knife sharpener lying handy the clothing
band sawyer takes q wipe or two at the
lightning streak that 10 playing about In a
small aperture in the cutting table. each
application bringing sparks In plenty. Then
ne lays hold Of q pile OF cotton. or denim,
or corduroy. any old material steers one
edge against the saw-knfe, flashes II
through, reverses, then shoots It back again
and again, trims off an unesthetio edge here
and there, and lays on a truck anywhere
from fifty to $50 legs. arms, backs. fronts.
collars and cuffs.
Here is a dissecting table that makes
things in parts, while whiting the whole
to ribbons. Nothing Is wasted, as tht
trimmed off edges. corners and ends are
shipped away by the carload to the paper
mills. The price of cotton goods In the
market governs the price realized for THU
paper stock.
From the cloth surgeon, the cut stun
passes along to the first operator. who
sits at a sewing machine whirled by cleo
tricity-and these machines hum like thu