The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-08-25

-facturerS was brought about at the !
meeting Of the Southern Furniture
Manufacturers Association. at Hick-l
DRY. N. C.. August Il. 1914. at which
time it was decided to investigate the
possibilities of marketing southern
furniture in Argentina. Brazil. Chile
and other South American coun-
tries.
II was decided to send a represent
tative to South America, to inveSti-
gate the conditions in regard to the
demand for furniture. advertising and
selling methods. etc. and a fund was
set aside By the Association for this
purpose. Mr.. w. A. Thomas, of
Statesville, N. c.. was selected for this
position, and it is expected that he
will sail as soon as all arrangements
can he made for the trip. Ar.
Thomas was formerly in charge or
the Kincaid Furniture Co, which has
been consolidated with the StateSvllle
Furniture Co. and is a man having a
very wide experience in both the
manufacture and selling Of furni-
ture.
While the southern furniture manu-
facturers have enjoyed d reasonable
export business, same has been han
died largely through export agencies
and not direct. 1t is believed that
the first-hand information as to sell
ing conditions and demand for furnl-
ture secured by Mr.. Thomas will re-
suit in the southern factories greatly
extending their trade.
Chance In Argentina.
1t is interesting to note that ArSen-
tina. about the largest importer of
wooden furniture in South America,
imports less than one-third of same
from the United States. the larger
part of the furniture sold in Ar
gentina coming from Austria and
Germany. 1t is believed that in the
absence of French, German and
Austrian exports. as a result of the
European war, d great opportunity
exists for the American manufactures
to capture a large part of the South
American business.
1t will doubtless be of interest tC
know that the Southern Furniture
Manufacturers are the first group OF
manufacturers in the United States
taking advantage of the present Eu
ropean situation, to send a persona
representative direct to the o
American countries to secure first
hand
The association decided to send
representative of South America as
result of an address by Mr.. c.. /
Chandler, of Chattanooga, Tenn
South America agent of the Southern
Railway, in regard to this subject. MI
Chambers address, in part, fol
lows:
Address Of &. l.. Chandler.
II is "A great honor to address tn
Southern Furniture Manufacturer
Association. There are very few lo
Called professions or trades in thi
country 80 long established as furni
ture making in North Carolina. j
these days of new industries, an
more particularly of the scatterin
of particular manufacturers all owe
- =, ,&A 80
that as far back as 1910, sevent
years ago. there were 223 person
manufacturing furniture in Mort
Carolina. the total value of their on
put being S35.002. as much as tn;
of many of those present in a mon,
with a capital Of S57,9S0. What
tremendous development this indu
try has witnessed during the last Sc
enty years. But there is no reaso
why it should not be even greater
the years to come. 1t is with regal
to a branch of this future develo
ment hat l am going to take up
few minutes of your time this afte
noon.
Look To New Fields.
We have heard a great deal ir. Z
past few days of the Immediate nece
city of developing the export busine
to the competitive markets of t
world, such IL South America, /
cause SuCh markets can no lOnge
supplied from Europe. owing to t
present war. This has drawn atte
ton to the Importance of our exp
field as a whole. While we in the
United States Of America only exp,
about 5 per cent. of our total mar
featured products, chiefly because
have such a large home market, c
manufacturers are turning more a
more to fresh fields to conquer a
to realize that countries which
rich enough to buy. and which at
same time have no manufacturing.
fer great opportunities for our mar
featured goods such as furniture
all kinds.
We must adapt ourselves to fore,
markets. and to the styles neeC
abroad. We must never try to 70
our own ia SteS on the foreign D
chaser or consumer. That is a gr
mistake we nave made. One of
greatest values of our export busin
is that it provides you with an GU
to dispose of your goods when b,