New Britain herald., 1917-03-06
DRAKE EXPECTS BIG
 PLANT WILL BE HERE
Merger Will Select PlainYile for
 Location, He BeneYes
ADMITS HALT IN PLANS
Plainville Has Better Chance Than Philadelphia and New Haven is Out Definite Announcement.

Although admitting that plans for ] the construction of new buildings for
 the Plainville end of the business have
 been temporarily held up,A Leon A.
 Drake, secretary of the< Rockwell l Drake corporation, which-1wfth the | Standard Roller Bearing company of Philadelphia is about to be absorbed l by the. Marlin Arms company of New
 Haven. this morning declared that the
 idea of increasing the floor space. in
 the local plant has by no means been
 abandoned and while arrangements i fer the consolidation have not devel- l oped sufficiently to warrant a positive l statement as to the location of the mergers main factory, the indications are that Plainville will be selected. MT. Drake gave out this information
 when asked by the, Herald regarding the correctness of the report that the company had given up plans for
 building here and there was a strong probability that the business would be removed from town.
 Directors of the three companies identified with the combine control sufficient stock to make the proposed merger 8 certainty and their placing of the matter before the shareholders is simply a formality. The owners of the shares will be asked to place their 70. K." on the proposal at 8 meet ing to be held on March Ia and in most cases it is believed they will put their proxies in the hands of the directors, permitting them to formal ly favor consolidation.
 Before making definite announce ment as to where the main plaint will be located, or whether the business will be centralized, MT. Drake said the directors will have many details to consider. New Haven. the home of
 the Marlin Arms plant, is out of the question, he said, and all indications
 point to either Philadelphia or Plain
 vile as the probable choice of the di-
 rectors, with the odds strongly favor
 able to Plainville.
 It is the secretary's personal opin-
 ion, although he admitted that there is chance he is mistaken, that the business will eventually come to this town and that a huge plant will De erected here to insure the desired production. Plans have already been prepared for the erection of an addt- ton that will more than double the floor space now in use, and will al- low for a substantial increase in the number of employees. It was the ln- tention to have the work started with the advent of satisfactory weather and arrangements had practically been completed when the Marlin coFa- pany.. through the efforts of A. F. Rockwell of Bristol, closed the deal for the absorbtion Of the Philadel- phia company.
 The Standard Roller Bearing com pany is one of the largest manufac- turers of ball bearings in the country and it's assets are listed at more than $2.OOO,O0O. Although it is in the hands of a receiver it continues to do a big business and has a large force at work in it's plant.
 The Rockwell-Drake company. while still practically in its infancy. is rushed with orders and is growing steadily. From it's start, A. F. Rock we'll has been believed to be 8 moving spirit in its activities, although his name does not appear among its man. agers, and when the demand for war munitions which the Marlin company is furnishing becomes exhausted, it is believed he will give up his time to the management of the ball bearing in- dustry.
 Plainville has some Inducements to l offer the directors in considering the location of the main plant. The l Rockwell-Drake corporation owns ten 1 acres of land in the eastern section of l the town. and there is enough unde-1 veloped property contiguous to its | present holdings. to give plenty of l room flor expansion. There are ideal | railroad facilities here. and enough ! enterprises in nearby | cities to insure an adequate working l force.
 The absence of a sewer system and | the lack of dwellings in which to | house large number of out-of-town