The New York herald., 1922-09-17
Cheap Land, Transit Facilities
and Labor Easily Obtained
Also Draw Industries.
METAL WORKERS IN LEAD
Only Seventeen Cities Outside
New York 0utstrip Bor-
ough in Products.
ny PERcIvAL MULLIKIN.

Assistant Secretary. Chamber OF Conf
merce Of Queens.
- A BEAUTIFUL white city of
a artistic Industrial buildings
aptly describes the big manu-
featuring center which has sprung UP
mushroomlike in Long Island City dur
ing the last decade Indeed, so rapid
has been the industrial growth through
out the borough that Queens exceeds
all but seventeen cities in the United
States, outside of New York city. In the
value OF its manufactured products, ac-
cordng to the last United States census.
Statistics compiled by the Queens bor-
ough Chamber of Commerce show that
those industrial plants. Of which there
are more than 800, employ upward of
0.000 persons In normal times. The
number of factories has been increasing
for the last two or three years at the
rate of two a week.
Almost every line of industry is rep
resented, but the most important one
is metal manufacturing. Food products
rank second, chemicals third, textiles
fourth and wearing apparel fifth.
The borough's rapid industrial growth
Is due to several causes. all of which
are big factors in planning the estab-
lishment of a manufacturing plant"
First. perhaps. Is the item of trans
portation. Queens has both rail and
water facilities superior 70 most places
in the United States and Is convenient
to the greatest market OF the world.
The borough has 219.5 miles Of water
frontage measured around piers and
shore lines Rail service to all parts
of the United States is supplied by the
Long Island and the New Haven rail-
roads, and bridges and ferries connect
the borough with Manhattan and Brook
lyn, so that a great part of the deiiv-
cries can be made by truck.
Land here Is cheap compared with
that in other sections not so favorably
located. and labor is easily obtained, the
splendid transit IA cilities making the
borough easily accessible from all sec
tions of the city. These and other fac
tors have contributed to the growth of
an Industrial center which has been
phenomenal.
The United States census of 1909
showed that Queensborough at that
time had III factories employing 1881
men and women, and, with capital to
the amount of s45, ,307 600 invested.
turned out that year manufactured
products of sl5l, 10000.
The census of 1919, the last full year
for which figures are available. showed
l.249 factories, employing 56.els persons
and having an output valued at s331.-
100000, more than double that of ten
years before.
Many large automobile manufacturers
have established assembling plants or
service stations In Queens. as 1t Is easily
accessible to the automobile center In
Manhattan. A large number of candy
and shoe factories have settled in the
borough.
The location OF the big manufacturing
plants has created a demand for hous-
ing that the employees might live near
their places Of employment For years
the builders and developers were not
able to build fast enough to keep pace
with the rapidly growing population.
During the last two years. however,
the situation has been considerably re-
lieved by the erection of thousands Of
homes of the single and multiple family
and apartment house type. Such build
ing has been particularly active In the
three Industrial centers, Long Island
City, Jamaica and College Point.