Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-02-06
CAR WORKS READY TO
HANDLE BIG ORDERS
CONTINUED from First Pagc.l

1
Continued from First Pagc.l
steel erecting shop for assembling
cars; a new paint shop, large addi-
| tions to the construction shop, a new
forge shop, several storage rooms and
the addition of a new system of ham
ding fuel for the entire plant. When
completed the plant will have a ca
pacity of twenty cars day and will
employ several hundred more men.
This company has just secured an
order for fifteen steel tank cars for the
Anglo M exican Petroleum Product
Company, of Brazil Recently an or
der of cars for the Rica la Paz Rail-
way, the railroad that crosses the An
des mountains ut an elevation of 12,-
900 feet, was shipped to South Amer
| lea. The Middletown company con-
structed all the cars for this famous
road.
Business Picking Up
Speaking of business conditions in
general, Arthur King, president of the
company, in an interview last evening
declared that although business was
still rather slack, he believed the
worst was past and that there would
soon be rapid return to former con-
ditions.
while operations in our plant are
on small scale now" he said, IT
hope for improvement soon. This
country is too large to remain long in
the grip of a business depression. An
ticipating a return of prosperity we
have enlarged our plant and prepar-
ed to take advantage of prosperity
when it comes. We have our extern
sions practically completed"
For years the principal field of the
Middletown Car Company has been i'll
South American countries. Mr.. King
entered this field a quarter century
ago when the car trust began to alb
sorb the small manufacturers through
out the country. So shrewdly has he
conducted his business and so success
fully has he been in developing this
new field that to-day, although prac-
tically all the small plants of the kind
in the country have been absorbed by
the trust, the Middletown plant is a
thriving, growing industry.
Speaking Of the movement for the
DEVELOPMENT of larger commerce
with South America, Mr. King declar-
ed that the United States is missing its
greatest opportunity in not striving
harder for the development of this
field.
'Trouble is" said he. "a while lot
of agitation since the outbreak OF the
European war for greater intercourse
between the Americas has been with
out any definite aim. Unless Ameri-
can capitalists change their tactics
they can't expect to develop much
commerce with the countries south of
us.
South Americans Are Shrcwd
TOO many Americans think that
since this war has created chaos in
commerce, all we need to do is to go
down to South America with basket
and hook and gather in the golden
fruit.
Instead, however, they will discov-
er that they are dealing with differ
ent kind of people. South Americans
look at trade in O. different light from
us. Contrary to popular belief South
Americans are shrewd, progressive,
businessmen.
"Why every box car and every cattle
car on a number of the South Amer
ican railroads is constructed entirely
of steel Our railroads haven't pro-
gressed that far yet.
twenty-five years ago when the
car trust began to squeeze out the
little fellow l saw that il l wanted to
survive competition | must go out and
develop new territory. South Amer
lea seemed to offer the best field. When
! made my first attempt to obtain or
ders there I met a surprise. l found
that only the very best was wanted.
South American engineers were very
particular in their specifications and
even the smallest detail had to be
carefully gone over. Every bit of waste
and extra cost had to be eliminated.
Don't Realize Extent of Field
"And my entire twenty-five years of
experience in the South American field
has convinced me that we in Amer
lea don't realize how great is the field
for commerce between the Americas,
nor how progressive are the various
countries there.
Just for instance, take the North
American city of Philadelphia and the
South American city of Rio De ia
neiro," said the car company president
as he smiled, philadelphia for years
has wanted a broad boulevard from
City Hall to Paramount Park. But
Philadelphia has talked and talked
about the project and has done-noth-
ing.
Now our South American neighbor
has set about and constructed not one
boulevard but a number of diagonal
avenues directly through the heart of
the city. Before undertaking the pro-
iect O commission including the best
architects and the best engineers in
Brazil was selected and sent to Europe
to study the question. Not only did
this commission build a system of ave-
nues superior to any city in the world
but later a beautiful boulevard was
constructed along the water front fac
ing the bay. Here there were wide
drives for carriages, another for pedes.
trians and still another for motors.
Why I don't believe there is any city
in America with more beautiful water
front than Rio"
Arc Progressive
Mr.. King also pointed to the regula-
tions in several South American cities
providing certain hours in which We
hicular traffic must cease on certain
streets to allow the shoppers the right
of way and vice versa, to illustrate
his assertion that South Americans
had exceedingly progressive ideas.
That it will take American capital