Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-11-21
tBY GEORGE R. WEBER.

very briefly mentioned a few indus
tries which apparently were feasible
and which would be of material
benefit to this locality. I purposely
refrained from mentioning any in
dustry which would be obliged to
ship its raw materials from any long
distance and then after their manu-
facture be forced to ship their nm
ished product away, even though
many of our most successful local
factories are obliged to do 50 and are
successful in spite of our present
high freight charges. No end of
different articles could economically
be manufactured here. shall make
no attempt to list them as I could
not cover one third Of them in this
column.
Maine Rich in Natural Wealth
Enormous quantities Of Raw Ma
terials with a ready and a waiting
market, and great natural resources
are lying dormant and undeveloped
within the borders Of the State of
Maine.
Our deposits of Crude Asbestos are
ignored although hundreds of tons of
asbestos products are used yearly.
Our dollars serve to develope the
great asbestos mills and mines at
Thetford, Quebec, while that same
vein that comes to the surface at
Thetford runs through into Maine
and can be followed for miles. Our
deposits of Slate are excelled by
none in the world but the slate indus
try has lost heavily by the develop
ment of cement substitutes and our
slate quarries are neglected and in
many cases idle.
OF pulp wood and of power we
have an inexhaustible supply and by
the combination of these four ma
terials we could manufacture Slate
Covered Asbestos Roofing, Asbestos
Pipe Coverings and Heat Insulations,
Asbestos Cement and scores of other
Asbestos products which are in great
demand today, and do so without go
ing out Of Maine for a single import
ant article necessary for their manu-
facture
The kennebec Valley should by
rights be a hive Of industry but it
cannot be as long as our important
and useful raw materials and articles
such as these lie neglected and I'M
thought of here and our Federal Re-
search and Development Bureaus in
Washington spend Names dollars
aiding and developing less tangible
and less important resources else
where.
. If Maine through it's Congress
men and its State Chambers of
Commerce and its citizens makes no
demand for assistance from these
Federal Bureaus they quite naturally
turn their efforts towards other
states and rightly assume that we
do not wish to progress.
! Our thoughts when we are asked
to vote for man for Congress
should not be OF the size of his
nockctbook or of the size of his fam
iy, they should be-what is he will
ing and capable of doing to secure
Federal aid to help Maine to de-
velop itssNatural wealth?
cit is quite easy to say that plan
Ia IL Is even SdSlCE "
laugh at most any plan of state or
of locaI Development but we must
rememb Der this, while we are laugh
ing at these plans other states with
more vision and more energy are
going ahead with development and
increasing their population, their
prestige and their wealth.
NJ vnvinc nrnh1aroe
OF where the money will be procured
10 pave streets and collect and dis
pose of garbage and install street
lights will automatically solve them
selves when more industries locate
here and thereby bring more rev.
euue to the city. But If our atti-
tude towards the building of more
homes deters the manufacturer from
coming here or if the seven or eight
inches of soft mud on Commercial
street discourages the farmer and
his wife who must hitch their horse
and wagon there. from trading In
augusta. and we make no more
than half-hearted attempt to- bet
ter these conditions, then. our first
rgohIems will always remain un-
solved.
+. What Make. a City Grow
The growth of-a city or of COM
munty depends wholly upon the
Vision and the energy of its people.
Our growth in the field of Auto
Electric Service work has been
rapid for the reason that we have
spared no pains or expense to equip
oar service station at 10 Dickman
street with the best of tools and the
finest of testing equipment. We
daily add to our large and COM
piete stock Of ignition parts, arma-
tnres and electrical devices--and we
have recently been extremely fortu-
nate in securing the services OF
three highly trained men In the
Auto Electric and mechanical field
Nr. John E. Hanson. who installed
the electrical equipment on the ma
val seaplanes which flew across the
Atlantic and who made the trip
With them as electrical expert, Is
now with us and is daily helping US
to increase our number of satisfied
customers. Mr.. Geo. Bailey, for
merly foreman in one OF the best
Auto Electric stations in Portland,
is.another skilled man whom we are
proud to have in our employ. Mr..
John Gardiner, for As years ma
chinist. is in charge Of our machine
shop which has been equipped with
new lathes, drills and special tools.
We have grown by careful work
manship aud strict attention to de-