Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-12-18
W|N00SK| MAY HAVE
COOPERATIVE STORE
Suggestion Made at Efficiency
Banquet rendered Overseers
of Wooden Mills by Agent
George E. Whitney, Who Is,
in Turn, Remembered by Men

SATURDAY night AT the sherwood nOtel'
about 100 of the men on whom to large
extent depends the success of the Bur-
lington and Champlain mills of the Amer
lean Wooden company during 1920 gath
cred at a banquet, rendered the overseas
and second hands of the mills by Agent
George e. Whitney and fired the opening
gun i'm campaign to keep to the lowest
possible figure the cost Of production for
1920. One thing was apparent at the ban
quet and that is the wonderful spirit Of
cooperation which exists between the
mill men and the officials in whatever
undertaking is under way. A feature of
the banquet was the presentation to Mr..
Whitney of travelling bag, by the
bosses.
Mr.. Whitney acted as POSTMASTER and
In a brief talk outlined some of the work
for 1920. He spoke of the spirit of CO.
operation and in doing so took up the
subject Of a cooperative store long
enough to inform those Interested that
he was keenly alive to the situation in
that respect and that the interest of the
employees would be taken care of along
that line
A correct understanding of just what
the administration of the mill was after
was the first subject taken up by Mr..
Whitney who said that In the old days
the question was us he good work.
man? To-day the situation is entirely
different. To start with, the officials take
it for granted that the boss is good
man. "Mr. Whitney wants to-day the
man who will give him the lowest costs
for a good product. He considered that
every overseer in the mill was in a bus
mess Of his own. The boss weaver is in
no way interested In the carding. etc. His
duty to himself and the company Is to
see that the yarn is delivered to him in
proper condition. to see that he delivers
the goods to the burling room in as per-
feet condition as possible and to be sure
that his costs are right. 1t Is the same
thing in all departments. He made 1t
plain that II an overseer was interested
In the cost Of production, he was to con-
suit with Mr.. Wall, Mr.. Fox or himself.
and they would receive all the attention
needed. Mr.. Whitney alluded to an oc-
currence Of few days ago when a super
intendent thought If a certain number Of
cards could be run over time, the yarn
production could be increased. The prop
ostion at the start didn't look good. but
afterwards it was found that by running
the cards a little extra, so more looms
could be operated and by so doing the
mill was furnishing employment to rs
more people. In other words, they have
given employment to Just so many peo-
pie who would not otherwise have had
1t. 1t also means that they have in
creased the production and decreased the
costs.
Mr.. Whitney then took up the matter
of a cooperative store. Petitions have
been circulated through the mills asking
for this and have been largely signed.
Mr.. Whitney said that this was a local
proposition and he wanted to handle 1t in
his own way. He felt kindly toward ev
cry merchant in Winooski and didn't
want to put anybody out of business but
when 1t comes to a crisis between retail
merchants and the employees of the mill.
he must consider the mill people first.
To-day a man will start out and visit
the stores in st. Adams, ST. Johnsbury,
Rutland and the larger places in the
State, as we'll as some Massa chusetts
cities. and ascertain the prices of 90 stand
ard articles II the merchants are doing
their part and really keeping in touch
with the other cities he will feel like
leaving <.le matter as 1t stands for
while 1t is a difficult and important
proposition but with the right kind Of
cooperation, can be handled so that in
the last analysis 1t will be to the advan-
tage of the men.
E. ]. Wall, superintendent Of the MILL
followed Mr.. Whitney. He gave a talk Of
interest to the mill men on efficiency. He
showed what could be done by keeping on
the alert for all leakages. He alluded to
the spirit of cooperation and depicted
the advantages to be derived from it. He
suggested that message of congratula-
ton be sent 10 r. $. Bartlett. who has
recently received n big promotion.
j. F.. \ose, formerly government in
spector al the plant. then spoke and told
of the friendly spirit which he had seen
displayed in the mill by the overseers and
second hands George II. Horton and
Chief Of Police &. A. Barber who were
guests at he banquet. told of what the
mill meant for Winooski when 1t had a
man like Mr.: whitney at the head of it.
j. e. OBrien superintendent of carding
and spinning, gave talk on respect for
authority He briefly outlined the re-
sponsibilities OF overseers and second
hands.
f. s. Shuttleworth, superint endent of
the Champlain mill, said that the field
had been sufficiently covered before him.
He urged all TO pull together during 1890.
which ought to be big year in the his
tory OF the Burlington and Champlain
mills
Superintendent Reginald II. Fox made
the presentation speech in giving Mr..
Whitney the travelling bag, and said he
considered a high honor had been paid
him in his selection as the man to present
b. tolxo . tl,nIr