Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1912-06-27

TO the village and in the follow
lhg ten years he influenced sew
eral I hieago capitalists to invest
II various industries for the town,
aost of which have developed in
% important local manufacturing
Institutions oday. In 1871 the
lame and fame of Bedding silk
ad spread throughout the cotm-
ry, and at a town meeting lii the
all Of that year. the name of the
(illage was officially changed
rom Patterson s Mills to Belding
In 1888 III. NJ. Belding built the
magnificent Bedding hotel that
was then and is yet one of the
BEST in the western part of the
state, and at the same time CON
,tructed two three-StOry brick
business blocks in the center of
he city.
In 1887 the brothers first com
mcnced to investigate the advan-
tages Of the city as "A silk manu-
acturing center. They found
conditions TO be just about as they
wanted them, and within three
months after they started their in
vestigations, the ground was brok
EN- for the first Bedding silk mill.
But the first mill was destined to
be occupied by others than the
Bedding Brothers & Company.
The Richardson Silk Company,
acting upon the Bedding idea that
silk could be more economically
produced here than in the east de-
.ided to build "A plant here, and
the Bedding mill, then nearing
completion, was sold to them.
Work was Immediately common
:ed on "A new Bedding plant, and
i'm 1890 the first local mill of Bel
ling Brothers & Company com
menced operations.
This mill, now known as Bel
ling mill No. !, was at the time
.of its construction and is yet one
Of the most modern and complete
y equipped mills in the country.
is three stories in height and
has floor space Of 50X325 feet,
two story power house and "A
l00x240 dye house. The con
slant demand for their product
compelled them in 1900 to con
struct mill No. 2, four stories high
o0x450, with power house an
mex and later mill No. 3. a three
story building 60X90 equipped
throughout with electrically driv-
IN machinery.
All Of these mills are equipped
with the Sturtevant system OF
heating and ventilation. which IN
sures absolutely fresh air during
the months when artificial heat
must be provided. They are al
so equipped with modern eIectri-
al machinery for. lighting, so
that the work of the mills is ear
ried on at all times under the best
possible conditions in SO far as
aeat and light are concerned. The
mills are all equipped with APP
paratus for the automatic regula-
ton Of the temperature OF the
work rooms so that the conditions
under which the employees work
is as near perfect as modern sci
ence can make them. Mill No. /
is entirely devoted to the manu-
facture Of silk thread and mills
No. 2 and 3 are used exclusively
for the production of silk fabrics.
The Bedding mills now have
about 400 names on the pay roll,
and consume nearly 10000 pounds
Of raw silk weekly.
To one unfamiliar with the
workings of modern textile fac
DRY, trip through the Beldlng
Mills is a revelation. In mill No.
|, the thread mill, the raw silk.
lirect from China. Italy or Japan,
is taken first TO the top floor OF
he mill. Here the rattan thongs
that bind the carton are cut and
rhe small packages of silk are
oiled on series Of shelves The
single skeins are jerked from
these packages and thrown over
a horizontal bar, then drawn out,
led in the middle and tossed into
Two large baskets for sorting The
;keins are then taken in charge
by two expert silk handlers who
le ermine the varying degrees o.
'oarseneSs of the silk, and sonar
lte them according TO their fine
ness for the winding room. This IS
he first work in the process of the
manufacture of spool of silk
thread. The skeins are strung
around octagonal wheels and the
end Of the thread fastened to bob.
bins each with n capacity OF