New-York tribune., 1922-12-03

The fact that hr. Wood IN MS new
venture is accompanied By Andrew q.
Piorcs ir.. vies.presidsnt Of the Amer,
can Woolen Company, Of which hf
Wood is president, George L. Shsply
second vies-prssidsnt Of the American
Wooden Company, and Henry ?. Binney,
an important director IN the company,
at first gave rise to the idea that the
American Wooden Company was d.
rectly interested IN the protest Sub
ssqusnt statements from Mr.. Wood and
some ioSieal reasoning brought forth
the idea that an smalgamation Of TIE
two companies is q remote possibility
and certainly 10 not among the current
plans Of Mr.. Wood and his Assoeiates.
Aside from Mr.. Woods denial that
an amalKamation IL contemplated, the
trade has ooma 70 believe that such 4
merger would be illogical, largely be-
cause OF tho different natures of the
two buoinesses. The voolsn trade. II
Is pointed cut, distributes from To 70
so per cent Of lie products 70 garment
Manufacturer. and does not come In
direct contact with the retailer 20 any
great extent. This is particularly true
OF The American Woolsn Company,
whose Goods are not handled, except
in rera Instances, By retail dealers, and
even when handled b. jobbers, And
even Thsn handled 81 lobbsrs ,hnd
their way TO the consumer In the form
OF ready-mhds elethinR rather than In
75P.C, Goes TO Consumer
In cotton goods the situation is re-
versed, and fully 70 per cent Of the
cotton goods made ges Int The hands Of
the public In the form of piece goodA
bcine sold By the mill 60 the jobbsr,
who In turn sells the goods without
further processing 70 the retailer, or
the Roods pass directly from the hands
Of the mlll or It's ceiling agent 70 the
retailer. With this distinction In mind
the trade In general believes that moth
ing would be gained b. = direct ANAL
eamstion ef the two Arms.
The entrance Of Mr. Wood into the
Consolidated brings With 1. much
financial support. Il is believed. In
addition 70 this u was noted that VIII
liam @. Rockefeller was placed on the
directorate. The influence that the
trade drow from this was that Con-
solldated nor has financial backing
sutieient to place II among the strong
est factors In the trade. This In Itself
was the subject Of much favorable com-
ment amonR ether cotton goods men.
The death Of Mr.. Rockefeller two days
folloerinr his election 10 the board may
make some difference regarding how
far the Rockefeller interests Will con-
tlnue 10 participate In the financial end
Of the business, but ~ Is geperHlly felt
that Consolidated has ample backing.
The election Of hr. Wood, who en-
joys a reputation a. a Production Or
RanlEer, az director general Of the
board ~ undsrstood 20 mean that he
will assume direct charge of the pro-
duction end OF the BUSINESS. In this
connection II has been pointed out that
the various mills owned By Consoli-
dated, acquired a. various tines are
not on an even plane Of efleianey. Il
ls expected that Mr.. Wood viii en-
deavos 10 bring ell the mllls 70 a high
point OF efficiency By the replacement
OF machinery and other measurea. 10 IL
being essentially a New England man,
viii pay particular attention 70 the de-
velopmsnt Of the New England mills Of
the concern and possibly bring moro Of
the cotton mills In that section into the
Consolidated. In this connection Il 10
recalled that Mr.. Pierce 10 treasurer Of
the Pierce Manufacturing Company, Of
New Bedford, one OF the beat known
cotton mills In the country. Mr.. Wood
also is not venturing Into n held un-
known to him, hs his FIRST mill trimming
vas In cotton goods mills.