The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-09-01
BATH TUBS AND SAVING BANKS. |


borne out by facts and figures.
In an interesting article in Worlds
Work we find a statement which sug-
gests that companies which sell bath
tubs and the saving banks of tn ecoun-
try, could tell another tale.
A Cincinnati company in the iron
trade reports that there was a demand
for one ten years ago. Certainly that
is an indication of better living condi-
fions and a sign of progress in the
forward march of civilization. OF the
more tangible things there is the rec
ent report of the New York State Su-
perintendent of Banks, showing that
deposits in the savings banks OF that
state grew $225,000,000 &c $4,000, 000)
last year, and that there was a gain of
nearly 100000 in the number of de-
positors. This volume of business was
referred to by the superintendent as
unprecedented" And the superinten-
dent of insurance Of the same state, in
his annual report, said: History has
never recorded such an unprecendent-
ed demand for life insurance, and
never was there such an increase in
the volume of new business written as
during the past year" This is an
other form of saving which also means
building for the future.
On the business and commercial side
the change simply means that one
class of producers has been eliminated,
and the tremendous profits which they
formerly made have been divided
among hundreds of others. There have
been no riots as a result of the new
law. Labour, in a recent poll made by
the Literary Digest, expressed itself
on the whole as satisfied with the re-
suits. The foreign born, it was pre-
dicted, would leave our shores be-
cause they were denied their beer and
wine. True enough, foreigners are
leaving as fast as they can obtain
passports, but for the most part they
are going to look after relatives
abroad, to attend to personal affairs in
warstricken countries. Most of them,
immigrant authorities predict, viii re-
turn; and the dread of an arid Amer
lea is not lettering those on the other
side who look to our land as one of
peace and plenty, for we are told that
as soon as the bars are let down Cen
trail and Southern Europe will send us
a new flood of immigrants.
DistilIeries and breweries in the
West and Middle West are gradually
being converted into manufacturing
plants. Peoria, Illinois, which was
known as the greatest whisky -produc-
ing centre in the world, stands out as
an example of the transformations
that prohibition has wrought in the in
dustrial life of America. The city was
the home of five big whisky distil-
leries, which are said to have repre-
sented a capital investment of $4,000
When prohibition came it was pre-
dicted that these men would roam the
streets without employment.
AS matter of fact, recorded in a re-
cent survey of the city made by G.. w.
James, an investigator, and printed in
the American Issue, the five plants are
now employing more men than ever
before. They manufacture food
products made from corn and other
grains. One industry alone, the Ma
jestic Distillery, employs more men to-
day than the combined whisky plants
employed before prohibition. Even the
wettest of the vets in his secret con-
science must admit that the manufac-
ture of foods which supply brain and
Drawn to millions of people in this
country, and which are helping to feed
the hungry nations of Europe, is a
greater act of conservation than the
production of a trouble making irri-
tant.
AS Mr.. James's observations were
made at first hand in Peoria. the fol-
lowing is copied from his report:
1.-The Majestic distillery, that en-
ployed $50 men in making whisky, will
now employ over 1900 in food produc-
ton. The Great Western DistilIery,
the largest plant of it's kind in the
world, used 10000 bushels of corn
daily and employed 800 men. Under |
the new regime this plant will employ
about four times as many men as were |
in making whisky.
1.-The Clark Distillery had the name |
Of producing the largest amount of |
rye whisky in the world but did not |
employ as many men as were en- |
ployed by the Majestic or Great West
ern. This plant is now used in making |
denatured alcohol for the government, |
but may. be used later as a sugar or |
syrup factory. The five big whisky |
plants that used about $4,000 bushels |
Of corn a day and employed 1875 men |
will soon be ready to grind fully 10000 |
bushels of corn daily and employ five |
times a smany men as formerly. These |
men will be employed in making corn |
syrup, feed of all kinds. yeast, pre-
serves, jellies, glucose. peanut butter,
candies, fruits. cherries. and many |
foods from corn.
Business is progressing as never
before and the city is. taking on new
life. Many who patronized the saloons
IN the old days of personal liberty
now deposit their saving in the banks.
Merchants and bankers speak enthu-
Siastically Of the increase in business
since war prohibition became effective
last July. Prohibition has also les
sened crime greatly in Peoria"
Dispatch IL the gift or art ov doing a
thing right quick. To do thing right
and to do it quick il an attribute ov
genius.