Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-09-05
MILWAUKEE'S
FAME NOT ALL
BUuTONBEER
Spillane Finds Great
Diversity of Indus
tries There.
SITUATION IDEAL
Production on 66 Per
Cent Basis Com
pared to 1919.
SITUATION IDEAL
Special to Indiana Daily Times
and Philadelphia Public Ledger
BY RICHARD sPiLLANE.

MILWAUKEE,, Wis, Sept. BE
cause in the days before prohibition,
Milwaukee brewers did a remark,
able amount Of advertising the gen
eral public came to consider this as
a city the chief product of which was
beer, and never did municipality
get more underserved notoriety.
Beer never ranked better than
fifth or sixth in importance, always
far below metal goods, food stuffs,
leather, textiles and chemicals. To
day, not a few persons declare, Nil
waukee wouldn't have breweries if
it could and they add it was a good
thing to get rid of them.
As a matter of fact Milwaukee has a
great diversity of industries and leads
the world in not a few products. Its
situation is admirable, along its three
streams, the Menominee, Milwaukee and
Kinnickinnie, are its manufacturing eS-
adjustments advantageOusly placed for
both water and rail transportation, while
there is hardly another city in Amer
lea with such high proportion Of great
broad thoroughfares, fine homes, num-
Der of parks and pleasing prospects.
There is no slum district If the Great
Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway project
goes through it is certain a tremendous
volume Of new commerce will be handled
here.
The plans for developing on the lake
front facilities for ocean carriers have
been drawn with appreciation of the
revolution this means in transportation
freeing a great portion Of foreign traffic
from going By rail through New York
and Chicago.
METAL TRADES PUT
CHECK ON SHOWING.
Compared with 1919 production seems
to be on about 4 CO per cent basis. There
has been slight increase in employment
In the last mOnth-about 1.6 per cent. But
for the depression in the metal trades
the biggest department of industry in
the city-the showing would be quite
good. The textile industry is very active
particularly the hosiery line, where plants
are working night and day, and where
the increase in number Of employees as
against 1919 is IS per cent This is due
to short skirts and long stockings. In
clothing manufacture the employment is
within per cent Of 1915. The hosiery
mills cannot get all the workers thew
desire There are stories told of efforts
made to induce employees Of other indus
tries to enter the mills where they car
be taught until they are efficient and
oe their refusal because they don't care
to change their line of work but would
rather wait until conditions brighten In
the afelds to which they are accustomed.
The metal trades bulk biggest in Mil
waukee's industries. Next in order,
come foodstuffs, leather. textiles, chem
lcals, drugs, etc, wood products, build
ing and various others.
In the AIIis Chalmers plant the city
has one Of the largest machinery manu-
featuring establishments Of the world.
In the Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul
shops it probably has the greatest thing
of this kind in America, for the plant
Is equipped to turn out everything in
railroad equipment. The range of its
other manufactures runs from trucks.
tinware trunks, motor boats, pumping
machines sawmill machinery, automo-
biles, automobile parts, cranes ana
hofsts steam shovels, air brakes, agrt-
cultural supplements, refrigerating ma
chimes, soaps, candies, boots and shoes,
containers, clothing, -four, dyes, knit
goods, leather etc. down to motorcycles
and no end of other things. In motor
cycles it has the Harley Davidson planr,
the biggest of its kind in the world.
VARY FROM FAIR
TO VERY POOR.
In the machinery establishments con-
ditions vary from fair to very poor. In
the tanning tndutry they are moderate,
the Pfster & Vogel plant, the largest
private owned in the world, which was
doing nothing last year, now operating
on a co ner cent basis, and the boot and
shoe industry, which is big here, Is ac-
tive to a pronounced degree. Not Few
plants are short of operatives. The own
ers of these manufactures say girls ara
so busy making silk stockings that thEre
are few left to make shoes to go WIN
the stockings Several new shoe fac
tories have been started IN Milwaukee.
In packing house products there is
fair average of business. Michael Cud-
shv told the writer his plants are on
about a 60 per cent production.
A remarkable institution Of Milwaukee
ia +ha William Steinmeyer Company, i'm
porters and grocers. 1t has been estab-
iished since 1865 and does a business
Of $4,000 a day. 1t doesn't keep books,
except TO a very limited degree. 1t buys
for cash. discounts all its bills and ex-
tends no credit Its business this year
IS larger by far than it has ever been
in its history. 1t is. larger even than
when It sold liquor in addition to other
goods.
'There is nothing strange in our pres
ent experience" said Arthur II. Anger,
the treasurer "In prosperous time the
people are careless in purchasing. in
hard times they count their money and
exercise great care, benefting by close
buying.
He was asked how much difference the
cash principle made in the purchasing
by the public.
he would not or could not state But
be did say he was astounded to find in
q city few hundred miles from Mil
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