The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1915-06-25
AN OCALA INDUSTRY
Success of the knitting Mills Whose
Excellent Goods Find
Ready Sale

Ready Sale
A few days ago a large delegation
from the Marion County Board of
Trade visited the Ocala Knitting
Mills in the afternoon. They found
the big room as busy as a beehive,
with over a thousand dollars worth
Of finished garments piled up about
the place, ready for pressing and
boxing.
Some one asked President George
Giles one day if they did not just buy
the goods and put their label on the
garments and call them "Ocala
made" EYES," said he, "we do in a
way We buy those huge cases of
thread you see there and those five
pound spools of thread are the gar
ments as they come to US"
The Board of Trade delegation
found a dozen women, under the
supervision of Superintendent Harry
Booth all busily engaged and intel
ligently and skillfully operating as
many different machines, making sew
eral grades of knitted underwear
for both men, women and children,
working up the big spools of thread
as they come from the packing cases
/ into the finished garment, with the
silk facing or lace edging put on, the
labels sewed in, etc.
The sight of the mill was a revela-
ton to most of the gentlemen. They
could scarcely realize that Ocala had
such an industry and examined the
work and watched each of the in
| tricate machines performing its part
so rapidly. The most interesting
feature was the four big knitting
mills knitting huge circular webs at
the rate of about a foot a minute,
without any care or attention, appar-
entity, except the general overlook
4 ing of the eagle eye of the superin-
tendent, who looks after evrything
else as well.
Every bachelor in the party longed
for one of the little machines that
sews on the buttons so rapidly with
no "cussin" or broken thread or stuck
fingers or needles that can not be
threaded.
A member of the party asked Giles
if he was worried about disposing of
the output of his factory. He said he
was not in the least. That samples
of the finished product sent to the
manufacturers of the knitting ma
I
surprise from them. They did not
know their machines could do such
fine work Atmospheric conditions
formerly bugaboo in the extreme
south) have proven perfect in the
handling of the fine cotton Irvine or
thread, and lastly, large wholesale
houses in the east have expressed a
desire to take the entire output
agreeing to guarantee all of the bills
and ship the goods to their custom
ers over the country.
/ President Giles, however, is not an
ticipating doing this. He has sent
out circular letters to all merchants
in this state and Georgia from which
he has received many inquiries. When
his samples are ready, his goods
boxed and labeled, he will have as
many orders on hand as he can fill.
People all over this section of the
state, both white and colored, have
subscribed for the stock of the com
pany. Giles did not ask a soul to
take dollars worth of stock till the
factory was in full operation, turning
out first class grade of knitted cot
6on garments. Now he is ready foI
them and wants cooperation, encour-
agement and financial aid and unless
all signs fail he will return the
stockholders liberal dividends on their
investment
Already the factory is to be reck-
oned with as an employer of labor
The payroll now is more than 500
a week. He finds that colored women
used to sewing and cutting and handl-
ing cotton and cotton Irvine, fall read
lily into the work and the operation OF
the different machines, and both he
and Manager Booth are very much
pleased with their work.
The Star predicts that the Ocala
Knitting Mills will be the forerunner
of some big things for Ocala.