Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1920-11-04
RETURNS FROM
TRIP TO SOIlIEr..'' r.
.orassA
pSst0S>As
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7. F. Risley Gdsst Of Chicago Firm
On Journey to Large Mills Vir-
ginia and North Carolina
RAW COTTON MADE INTO
ARTICLES OF VARIOUS KINDS
Employees Are Given Welfare
Training and Instruction During
Hours When Not Working

T. f. Risley returned Friday from
visit to North Carolina and Vir-
ginia. The trip was made with six
other merchants from Wisconsin, up
ON invitation of Marshal-Field & Co.,
Chicago. Once a week for nearly a
year they have been taking groups
of from seven to nine merchants from
various states on a tour of inspection
OF the large cotton mills at Spray,
Baker, Leakville and Fieldale. The
mills are owned and operated by this
firm, under the name Of the North
Carolina Cotton & Woolen Mill COM
pany and are located in the foothills
of the Blue Ridge mountains, near
the border between Virginia and North
Carolina. 1t was a revelation for these
merchants to see the magnitude of
the mills and the means being pro-
vided for the welfare of the thousands
of employees.
They are favOrably located as to
transportation facilities, and an abun-
dance Of power is available. The noun
tain streams furnish electrical energy,
and the Pocahontas coal fields are
not far away.
The town Of Fieldale is new, hav-
ing been a forest but three years ago
and n"-r-@'-os large mill of 236,600
square feet Of floor space, making
soft spun and hUck towels and cotton
and damask table cloths and napkins,
having a capacity cf making 1,248,000
dozen towels, $4,000 yards of damask
per year. The power is now generated
by five large boilers, and when the
present plans are completed will re-
Quire fifty boilers. They are planning
a town Of 10000 people in a very short
time.
At Spray, Baker and LeakvilIe are
maintained the wearweI blanket
and sheeting, gingham and outing, and
bedspread and knit underwear mills.
They employ about 1000 people. An
idea of the extent of the spinning of
this group Of industries may be learn
ed from the fact that the total length
mately 125,000000 miles, and would
go over 5000 tines around the earth
The total length of goods belached at
the Spray bIeacher in 1919 was 1929
miles. Enough ginghamS were pro-
duced in 1919 to supply one house
dress to 1,738OO0 women. The bIan-
kets if stretched end to end would
reach from New York to Honolulu.
The total amount of cotton used in one
year is 25,0OOO00 pounds of which 5,
100000 pounds is foreign cotton.
The visitors were given an oppor-
tunity TO inspect all the mills and see
every stage of production. from the
raw cotton to the finished product 1t
was a revelation to see and to-. learn
how many processes were necessary
in production, the care and inspection
exercised, the cleanliness of the mills
and the apparent contentment of the
employees. often spoken Of by the
visitors The workers are all native
Americans from the mountain regions
of Virginia and North Carolina Very
=
and education Of the employees is
carefully provided for; the company
helps to maintain ;Our Y. NJ G A
buildings and numerous churches
Specially trained men are employed to
look after community welfare They
have a mems band of fifty pieces, and
a boys band Of forty-five pieces, the
boys running in age from seven to
fifteen years. Twelve months ago the
little fellows knew not one note from
another. There are $50 enrolled in
violin classes, and community sing ng
is being developed among the children
in the schools. The Y. NJ. G.. A has
lecture courses bringing in the best
talent obtainable and every year a
seven-day ChautauQua is maintained,
and there is no trouble to sell tickets.
they always pay They had a Red
Cross chapter Of $500 members, 1000
of whom were mill people. Especially
trained community nurses are prOvid-
ed women who are prompted by re
ligcus motives, and who go into the
work as a means Of expressing their
love f0C humanity.
The company builds four and six
room homes for the employees and
rents them at 25c per room per week
making a four room house cost $500
rer year. The approximate cost to
build these homes is about $2500. In
stead Of the houses al. being a laze
as N many mill towns, four or five