The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-21
TWO MILLIONS
 DODCE'S PROFIT ON BIG CORNER Remington Arms Magnate Corrals Special Machin-
 cry and Then Sells. GAVE UP PLAN TO
 DOUBLE FACTORIES Stocking Russian Munitions Plant With Rifle Max
 ing Machines.
Special to The Farmer.)

r
 Hartley Dodge, head of the Remington Arms Union Metallic Cartridge Co.,, Inc, of this city, w'+h large manufac- | turing plants at Bridgeport, Conn.,, and Ilion, N. Y., cornered the United States munition machinery market at the outset of the European war was disclosed through enormous sales made through New York brokers today. With complete equipment for fac tory being established for the manu- facture of rifles in Russia, by that government, a large part of the na- chinery already having been furnished | by Marcellus Hartey Dodge, it is learned that even his American con- petitors have been compelled by a shortage of material, labor and gen.
 eral demand for machinery of all
 kinds, to purchase from him at ad-
 vances of from 50 to 100 per cent. over original cost.
 | In large storehouses at Bridgeport, Stamford and elsewhere throughout the country rifle making machinery estimated to have cost over $1, ,250, 900
 is awaiting further rises in price. It is estimated that this quantity of ma chinery already delivered by the mak- CTS will net more than $2,000,000 clear profit. There is said to be under pro- cess of manufacture, machinery of far greater value.
 | From undisputed sources of informa- tion among machine brokers of New
 York it is said that when Marcellus
 Hartley Dodge began the erection of l the Remington Arms & Ammunition plant at Bridgeport, the buildings on
 which cover 12 acres of ground and i rise five stories, Dodge found great difficulty 1f getting machinery.
 1 The possibility of greater European orders than had been procured by him necessitated plans, for doubling the factory buildings and equipment Fearing his competitors would freeze him out of the market, double and sometimes triple the number of ma , chimes actually needed were ordered When the housing condition in Bridgeport became acute and it was | ascertained that the increase in fac tory could not be made for several years, a forced sale of the machiner then being built was considered. Ma chine shops throughout the country, canvassed for the purpose of ascer- ta1ning the situation, showed that the price of the standard designs ordered with adapters for munition purposes had already advanced between 25 and
 75 per cent with the prospect of fur ther advances.
 Dodge decided not to sell but to hold for the top notch prices. The big factory of the Handy & Harman Co.,, in Bridgeport, having been va- Several thousands of machines were cf0 I>11 the Remington Arms & Ammunition Co.'S plant was utilized for storage purposes and other lofts were rented in Stamford and elsewhere throughout the country.
 The Russian government attempted to buy machinery in England and America, but was unable to get deliv- cries within several years. A special appeal then is said to have been made to Dodge, e,who has released huge quan- titles of the rif1e-making machines at market prices which are now being shipped abroad. The quantity soIu IS said to be sufficient to equip a factory equal almost to the big one Bridge port.
 The quantity of machinery purchas- ed in the cornering of the market is evidenced by an order to one factory for 600 standard machines at a price of $1,600 each or an aggregate of $960,0OO for one order. Dealers in intuition machines say that there is practically none to be bought in the Unied States except through Dodge, whose conracts have precedence with a continually rising market.
 Officials of the Remington Arms & Ammunition Co. in Bridgeport refused today to discuss the report other than to admit that great quantities of ma chinery were stored here. Its purposes or destination was not divuIged.