The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1915-02-11
The unexpected has at last hn

pened and Tucumcari and Quay
county will be the benehciaries
For some time past the citizens of
this county and in fact. THE part of
the state. have longed to find good
market for bear grass or soap weed
as It is commonly called, but not
until last Friday was il supposed
that Tucumcari would be the place
to be chosen as the logical and best
location al which to install fac
. tory.
The local commercial club and
city council. together with the Rock
Island railroad company, working in .
unison, succeeded in landing fac
tory for this city which will be of
more value than any other propo-
sition yet taken up for consideration.
II only took three days to get mat
ters fixed up so that the farmers and
land owners along the railroads
leading into this city could be noti-
fled that the bear grass industry had
taken on new life.
A factory was installed in Chicago
q short time ago by Mr.. a. II. Ray
mond of that city and by a secret
process bear grass and soap weed
was made into fiber of good quality
and the waste was sold to other
firms who ground il into pulp from
which paper was made. The eli
matte conditions were such that the
preparation of this weed took con-
siderable time and money, and it
was necessary to use a steam pro-
cess with which to dry it out. Mr.. |
Raymond says this dry climate and
: -eonSnaal sunshine will cut the cost
of manufacture to the minimum and
after looking over several locations
he came here last Thursday at the |
solicitation of Mr.. Johnson of the |
X. |. railroad. He was met by the |
directors of the commercial club and |
with the assistance Of the city coun-
Gil they found suitable location |
and with a small cash bonus sue
ceeded in inducing Mr.. Raymond to
locate his factory here. Contracts
were willingly signed by all parties
concerned after the matter was
fully gone over and Mr.. Raymond
was liberal in all of his terms and
manifest great confidence in the adj
venture because of the fact that il
had been tried out to his entire sat
isfaction and was no longer theoret-
ical.
The railroad company has already
guaranteed low rates on the finished
product. The waste will be baled
and sent east where il will be used
in the manufacture of paper and no
loss will be incurred by Mr., Ray
mond.
Six acres of ground was donated
to the commercial club by the city
and Mr.. Goldenberg which joins the
city water works plant and the rail-
road yards west of the city limits.
The large ware house recently pur-
chased by the city was also sold for
a small sum and will be moved To
the site to be used as temporary
quarters for the machines which will
arrive here from the Chicago fac
tory. The cash bonus which was
made up by a popular subscription
or donation by some of Tucumcari's
livest citizens was placed in the
bank to be held in escrow until the
machinery is installed and ready for
operation. Mr.. Raymond guaran-
tees in his part of the contract to
work from forty to one hundred men
at least eight months of each year
for period of five years at which
time the city will give him a clear
title to the land. He also agrees to
pay at least $500 ton for the pro-
duct delivered in Tucumcari.
The machines will be run by elec-
tricity and contract has been made
vwith the local company at satisfac-
tory rates. Blue prints are being
forwarded TO headquarters to have
the railroad company have a spur
built into the factory so that unload
iing the rough and reloading the